Point of Separation
by Cobrastryke
Summary: Rosalie's musings as she falls in love with Bella. Warning - this story has lots of parts that get a little bit dirty. Nothing weird, but pretty smutty none-the-less. A/U, Slash, RxB
1. Chapter 1

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There was always, and, it felt to her, would always be, a point at the end of each encounter where they had to separate, where one of them had to go. The practical justification for this: it was in order for neither to be found out. And Rosalie would never put herself in a position where she would be the one being prompted to leave. Despite all of the concessions she'd already made (and there were many) in order to get to this place, to this darkened, windowless bedroom where she currently lay, her lithe, slender body draped over the softer, smaller girl in a manner far too intimate, and truthfully, too loving to suggest that this had been a random or meaningless tryst: yes, despite everything Rosalie had compromised to bring her to this very moment, she was still too proud to ever be asked to leave. Nor would she ever be the one asking to stay. Actually, it wasn't simply a matter of pride; it was also manipulation. She knew the power in this, knew the effect it had on Bella, the subtle, veiled rejection present in always being the one being left, always being the one wanting more. _Basic economics, _Rosalie thought,_ supply and demand. Flood the supply and you decrease the demand, and vice versa. And I am the vice versa._

Rosalie wasn't actually interested in hurting Bella. In all honesty, it pained her to think of it, and God help anyone else who would ever dare to hurt or upset Bella, _her_ Bella – Rosalie would rip their hearts out. Well, not literally, but she would destroy them, in words, or in deeds, or both.

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Rosalie Lillian Hale was a fearsome creature – extraordinarily beautiful, frighteningly intelligent, socially powerful, and wealthy beyond comprehension. And although she would admit this only to herself, she was never more grateful of her power than when she was with Bella. Because she loved Bella – she'd never really loved anyone before (aside from the standard family ties), but she knew she loved Bella. Actually, she knew she was _in love_ with Bella. It was this strange full feeling she'd get in her chest (maybe her heart, she thought) whenever she was with her or thought of her; the feeling that would rise all the way into her throat; to the point where when Bella would look up at her with those sleepy, chocolate brown eyes (although one could hardly describe them as simply "chocolate"; Rosalie could see a million different shades of deep brown; sparkling, endless – Rosalie could look into those eyes forever, she thought, but regardless…), when Rosalie would lose herself in those eyes, or see Bella laugh, or cry, or sigh, or Jesus drink a cup of coffee – whatever – in these moments Rosalie would get this full feeling in her chest, okay her heart, and it would get so indescribable, so huge, that Rosalie felt like she would burst. Feeling like she would burst – _how cliché, _Rosalie thought, but although Rosalie knew it was cliché, she knew that all clichés had to have been born from truths and thus this was her truth; she was in love with Bella.

And of course, Rosalie was fiercely protective of the few people she loved. So she thanked God that her beauty was breathtaking, her intelligence (although some might describe it more as "cunning") was legendary, her bloodline was beyond blue, and her bank account was at least nine digits _before_ the decimal point.

Because all of this gave her power, and she could use this power to protect Bella, _her _Bella. Not to shield her from the world – Rosalie didn't want that, and she wasn't naïve – in her mind, character, strength, intelligence, all of it, really, could only be developed through some measure of adversity. Rosalie was just grateful to have the power to make sure that adversity didn't get out of hand. And, yes, to also destroy anyone that tried to (or successfully did) hurt Bella. But subversively, secretly, without anyone knowing, even, no _especially,_ Bella. Because that's how Rosalie operated, how she thought, how she felt; in secret, all of it.

Nothing was more secret, of course, than the fact that she actually loved Bella; was in love with Bella. And for now this fact was as much a secret to the beautiful girl underneath her as it was to everyone else. The beautiful girl who was at this moment, beginning to stir.

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"_Hey"_ Bella said quietly, intimately, as she stretched her arms over her head. She had been laying slightly on her left side, her body pressed tightly into Rosalie's as she had held the arm that draped gracefully over her. ("Spooning" Bella insisted on calling it, even though or probably because Rosalie hated the term.)

Now, as Bella stretched, she twisted her body to face Rosalie's and pressed up against her, making their bodies fully flush with each other. Bella exaggerated the stretch so that her nipples grazed Rosalie's, and Rosalie couldn't help but shudder. Bella was looking directly into her eyes, her gaze soft but serious. Rosalie pressed herself into Bella, moving her onto her back but keeping their bodies still flush, as Bella brought her arms down and wrapped them around Rosalie's neck. Rosalie slowly pushed herself onto her forearms, never breaking Bella's gaze or the contact between them from the waist down. She moved one leg slightly in between Bella's as she arched her back, both movements small enough to seem unintentional but still creating enough friction to elicit a tiny gasp out of Bella. Bella gently rubbed the nape of Rosalie's neck with one hand and brought the other to Rosalie's forehead, tracing a half "c" down the side of her face as she tucked an errant strand of hair behind the blonde's ear. Rosalie sighed, staring deeply into Bella's eyes without speaking, knowing just how long to go before the silence became unbearable.

"_Hey" _Rosalie said back after a few seconds. Bella smiled.

"_I can't believe you're still here,"_ she whispered as she traced a line from Rosalie's jaw down to the hollow of her throat, holding her delicate fingers there for a brief moment before bringing them up to Rosalie's cheek. She rubbed it softly with the back of her fingers as she spoke. _"Please tell me I wasn't asleep for very long."_

"_No, you weren't," _Rosalie replied, a smirk appearing on her face.

"_What?"_ Bella chuckled. _"Okay how long did I sleep? I know it wasn't long because you'd never stick around if it was."_ Bella feigned irritation in her voice but continued to stroke Rosalie's cheek.

"_How rude," _Rosalie replied in mock indignation, but with a tone that was soft and seductive. _"Now you'll never know."_

"_Rose," _Bella used her nickname and spoke softly as well; all trace of joking was gone. She slipped her arms underneath Rosalie's and began to ghost her fingertips up and down her sides. Rosalie responded by slowly moving the leg that was in between Bella's. _"Rose," _Bella said again, this time her voice deeper and filled with want. Rosalie began flexing that certain muscle on her slender, perfectly toned thigh and pushing into Bella in slow, precise rhythm, once again moving her own arms back underneath Bella's and gathering the girl up, lifting her lower back slightly off the mattress as they began to rock back and forth. Bella cupped Rosalie's face with both hands and pulled her in for the kiss she couldn't wait any longer for.

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There was always, and, it felt to her, would always be a point at the end of each encounter where they had to separate, where one of them had to go. And Rosalie would never put herself in a position where she would be the one prompted to leave. But now, as Bella's soft, full lips met hers, as she moaned into Rosalie's mouth in a way that made Rosalie so weak with arousal she could barely hold Bella, now, as their tongues moved together in time with their bodies, increasing in pace as they grew wetter and wetter, now Rosalie felt that, as dangerous as it might be for her pride, that point of separation would have to wait.

And she knew pride was never really the reason she was always first out the door. Nor was it manipulation. It was fear.

And as their breathing grew faster and this beautiful girl began again to moan her name, she wondered exactly how she had gotten to this point.

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A/N: I had originally intended for this to be a two-shot (not sure if that is the proper term), but it kind of just kept going. Hopefully that explains why the tone of the first two chapters differs somewhat. I was more careful with my words in these first two chapters; as the story proceeds, it gets a little sloppier – my apologies in advance. I sort of decided to forego caution in favor of just getting my story out. I'm going back through all the chapters now to try to amend some of my spelling mistakes – again, I apologize in advance because I'm unsure as to whether or not re-posting corrected chapters screws up the whole "story alert" thing.

Thank you so much to everyone who has sent me personal messages and reviews; you motivated me to actually write this thing and I'm extremely grateful.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I own nothing except the story.

A/N (10/13/10) - I just made a few changes to this chapter to make it more consistent with the story (now that it's clearly no longer just a stand-alone thing.) The first two chapters were a small part of a much larger story that I had never really planned on telling, but now that I've clearly decided to write it, I just needed to make a few adjustments to make it more accurate. I think I'll have to do a little more of that for the next few chapters – if I remember correctly, I didn't really commit to really telling the actual story until chapter 4, I think.

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Rosalie stilled their movements and pushed herself up so that she hovered over Bella, watching her reaction to the loss of friction lower down. Bella's lips were so swollen, so perfectly red, that Rosalie had to suppress a small moan as Bella bit down slightly on the lower one. Rosalie's eyes bore down on Bella's, and she searched them, not sure of what she was looking for. The eyes that looked back up at her were half-lidded in arousal, and filled with lust, desire, and something else, something Rosalie couldn't quite put her finger on. Bella held her gaze like no one else ever had – most couldn't handle the intensity of Rosalie's stare. But Bella, could – in fact, it almost felt like she could match it – actually, it felt like Bella was searching her too.

That Rosalie didn't know what Bella was looking for gave her pause, the uncertainty making her feel momentarily weak. Rosalie needed to own people, control them, know them, sense them and see them always clearer and more deeply than they could ever see her. That control – she needed to have it, _always_ to have it. Love - that wasn't something that Rosalie thought would ever enter into her equation. Love was for other people, simpler people. _Happier people,_ Rosalie thought. She wanted it, wanted to feel that free and that full and however else it had been described to her, but she had long since resigned herself to the idea that she was too broken for it. Platonic love was painful enough and best kept to a safe minimum. Romantic love – actually being _in love_? That was simply too foreign, too frightening, and too long forgotten for Rosalie to ever feel again, if she ever even had. Maybe years before in the few blissful moments of early childhood before the pain began; maybe that was what love felt like? But Rosalie had understood that she wouldn't know love, wouldn't know how to love, ever in her life.

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Unfortunately, Rosalie also knew that Bella had changed that. Bella made her weak, made her feel needy; desperate. And all of a sudden she found herself secretly in love with Bella - how would she ever cope with that? Her demented, surely deranged emotions would get the best of her, and she would be ruined. And Bella, no doubt Bella would of course love her back, wouldn't she? But it would be weak, and annoying, and suffocating. At least Rosalie could take solace in the knowledge that once Bella was in love with her, Rosalie would lose interest.

But she didn't want to lose interest, how was that possible? How did she get to be so weak? How did she get to this place – this was an impending disaster. She would hurt Bella. Bella would hurt her. She was too messed up. Too broken.

_Again with the clichés, _she thought, _my life is riddled with clichés. "Too broken to love" – _she almost smiled at how ridiculous it sounded, how very Dr. Phil it all was. Plenty of people felt they suffered from the same affliction and were proven wrong, dragged out of their self-imposed isolation or dramatic moping and self-pity by some sassy wedding planner, or bully with a secret heart of gold, or some horse whisperer on a farm in Montana. Yeah, yeah, she'd seen the movies, whatever. It wasn't like she didn't believe in the possibility of this. But not for her.

Yet here it was, happening right before her very eyes. Bella could _never_ know. And Bella could never fall in love with her. She knew what it looked like when someone loved you. She'd seen it countless times – she had an ability to get people to fall in love with her more or less effortlessly. Maybe it was the beauty, or the body, or the money, or more likely, she knew, it was the fact that she was withholding, a mystery, never giving anyone as much of herself as they gave her. And they'd all try to change her; they'd all think that they'd be different. Rosalie was, in fact, so used to seeing this in others that she could recognize almost immediately when someone had fallen for her again. There would be this hopeful, longing look in their eyes, almost desperate. And that look usually came first during or right after sex, as Rosalie hovered over them, staring deeply into them much like she was doing to Bella at this moment.

And always when she saw it, Rosalie's attraction would die, her interest would be gone, and she'd brace herself for the coming weeks of pleading phone calls, or cold-shoulders, or frustrated screams and insults. She didn't welcome this, and she wasn't cruel to any of them – in fact, she felt badly every time it happened, because it was just one more nail in her coffin, one more instance that proved to her that she was indeed dead inside. She'd given up berating herself about not being able to feel long ago. After a few years of self-torture, she realized it was pointless. And so she made peace with who she was. But yes, she knew what it looked like when someone loved her. And she knew what that would entail; what would happen. She also remembered what happened when _she_ let herself love someone. And that was even worse. The numbing weight of disinterest that dragged on her when someone looked at her with love; that felt frustrating – that felt bad. But it couldn't hold a candle to how it had felt when the roles were reversed.

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So why, as she looked down at Bella right now, did it feel different? Not radically so, but different. She would not, she _could not_, let Bella fall in love with her. Strange as is sounded, she didn't want to lose Bella. She didn't want to look at her the way she looked at everyone else. She didn't want Bella to _be_ like everyone else. No, Bella could never be allowed to love her. It would ruin everything. After tonight, it would be over. Rosalie needed to be the predator that she knew she was. She needed to block out her own feelings and protect herself. She needed to put a stop to this nonsense. Right now.

But looking down at Bella, she lost her resolve. _Okay fine, maybe just one more time,_ she told herself.

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_One more time. _Bella swallowed her breath but continued to stare right back at Rosalie, her dark eyes probing into Rosalie's own. Rosalie could see in them the lust and the desire; that didn't surprise her. But there was something else. Rosalie felt a current of adrenaline rush through her, rushing hot and tingly and strange, as she realized what she was seeing. It _was_ love, she could see the love in Bella's eyes.

_Great, it's already too late. _ But Rosalie couldn't stop herself. This was different than she imagined. She saw _love_ in Bella's eyes. Or maybe it was a mistake, maybe it wasn't love. _God knows I have an ego_, Rosalie mused. _Maybe I'm giving myself too much credit. She's not in love with me, that's not love. She just wants me. Everyone wants me. _

But the look in Bella's eyes was different; it didn't look weak or desperate or needy. It looked like something she'd never seen before. _Please don't let it be love,_ she silently begged to the God she hoped existed. _God, but those eyes… _Rosalie swallowed her own breathe, realizing that she'd actually felt something. She'd felt…arousal, right? No, she knew what arousal felt like, and this went _way _beyond that. It surely must just be some version of that electricity or adrenaline that Bella always gave her because Bella was hot and Rosalie wanted her.

No, this was something much stronger, like adrenaline times a million – what was it?

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Whatever it was, she couldn't believe she'd actually felt something so strong. She had felt the bigger picture "love" for Bella already; she already knew she was probably _in love_ with her. But this? It was like being lost at sea, stranded on a life raft, sun burnt and dehydrated beyond rational thought. With nothing left to feel but your own thirst. That thirst was so strong that it overrode everything else.

She felt that thirst for Bella, that weird electrical charge that made her want to consume Bella, to ravage her body and own her mind and spend every waking hour of the rest of her life taking her. And this truly frightened Rosalie. She felt so out-of-control. Part of her wanted to flee immediately, to run for the safety of her own apartment, her own, managed, controlled existence. But she was smart enough not to act on that fear. She _couldn't_ act on that fear. Because it was balanced with the strange joy of just realizing that something had happened to her that she _hadn't_ predicted. That Bella did something to her that no one had yet to do. And whatever it was, it felt good. It felt _so_ good. Rosalie licked her lips, a small but real grin gracing her features. _Shit, _she mused, _what is she doing to me?_

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The weight of her body was absorbed fully by Bella as Rosalie brought herself down, releasing what she realized was the death grip she'd held on Bella's sheets. She couldn't bear to break eye contact with Bella, the feelings that gaze was giving her felt like little bumps of cocaine. She held it even as she leant in to nip Bella's lower lip gently. Bella leaned into her, hoping for more contact, and muffled a groan as Rosalie pulled away. She placed each hand on the sides of Bella's perfect breasts, quickly ghosting a thumb over each hardened nipple, already pebbled to perfection, before slowly running her hands from Bella's sides and up her arms, moving them in the direction of above Bella's head. She was losing control.

"_So soft," _Rosalie whispered. _"So beautiful." _God she was so soft; Rosalie was hard, all tight, toned muscle, perfectly shaped, perfectly cut. Perfect. But hard, so hard, powerful, impenetrable, unyielding. But Bella, Bella was soft, she was so soft, she felt so fragile in Rosalie's arms, so delicate, almost breakable. But God, so soft. Soft felt so good. _She_ felt so good.

"_You feel so good," _Rosalie husked, the words slipping off her tongue before she even realized they'd been forming. _"So fucking good," _she moaned, as her hands roamed over the softness of Bella's arms and up to the delicate skin of her wrists.

Bella responded by pressing herself as hard as she could into Rosalie from beneath her, clearly trying to roll her over. _This is so cute, _Rosalie thought, _Bella trying to dominate me again, trying to have her way with me. _Rosalie pinned Bella's wrists above her and leaned in to kiss her nose. Bella tried in vain to once again to capture her in a kiss, and her lips formed into a pout as she let out a puff of air in frustration when Rosalie pulled away.

_So cute_, Rosalie mused, but when Bella bit her lip again, the tingles shot right down to Rosalie's core, the strongest ones yet. Rosalie moaned involuntarily, louder this time. _So cute, but shit, so sexy._ Bella continued to look deeply into Rosalie's own orbs, neither of them having broken contact once. It could have been three minutes that they absorbed each other's gazes, but it felt like thirty.

###

Bella's breath was erratic and heavy, and her pupils had darkened her eyes almost to the point of blackness. Rosalie could feel hard nipples brushing against her chest, and farther down, a heat and wetness that was pressed up against her thigh. Bella arched her back, further exposing her neck to Rosalie, begging for contact. Rosalie dipped down for a split second to nip at her pulse point. Bella shuddered, breathing Rosalie's name out in a way that sent whatever adrenaline thing Rosalie was feeling into overdrive. Was it just adrenaline? There was no way. It definitely wasn't standard arousal because of Bella, Rosalie knew that well, felt it _plenty_ of times. And already arousal for Bella had been the strongest she'd ever felt in her 29 years.

And this was actually even more intense, _way_ more intense, and it felt heavier. It felt significant. It was like it hit her heart every time. And it made her want Bella in a way that she'd _never_ wanted anyone or anything before.

###

"_So sexy," _she moaned as she met Bella's eyes again. They both gulped at the intensity of the moment. _"So fucking sexy,"_ she gasped, and then for the second time that night, spoke before she realized what she was saying, whispering to Bella _"What are you doing to me?"_

Their lips crashed together and Bella began to kiss Rosalie deeply, sucking on her tongue in a way that made Rosalie almost collapse. Bella was forceful, dictating the pace of the kiss, taking charge. Rosalie never let anyone take charge, but with Bella it felt so good that she couldn't help herself. Bella rubbed herself on Rosalie aggressively, making her desires clearly known, as her soft mouth merged completely with Rosalie's.

Rosalie felt like Bella was fucking her mouth with her tongue, Bella kissed her so deeply and in rhythm with her thrusts onto Rosalie's thigh. She freed one hand from Rosalie's grasp and dug her nails into Rosalie's upper back, digging in deeply before raking them down. Rosalie was so caught up in the sensation of the kiss, moaning into Bella's mouth as their tongues connected over and over, that she didn't notice where Bella's hand was headed until she felt two fingers run through her own folds.

She gasped and quickly caught Bella by the wrist before she could go any farther. Bella moaned in frustration and broke the kiss, gasping and sucking in air. Rosalie brought the offending hand to her mouth and kissed the two fingertips.

"_Rosalie,"_ Bella panted, _"I need to touch you. I have to touch you, I have to fucking touch you. Please let me touch you."_

_###_

Aggressive, dirty-talking Bella was almost too much for Rosalie to refuse, but she'd had enough new experiences for one night, and as turned on as she was as Bella breathed desperately in her ear, the feel of those fingers had snapped Rosalie out of whatever trance she'd been in. No one took that kind of control over Rosalie, not until she said so. She didn't want anyone, what was she thinking? Well of course she _wanted_ them, she _wanted_ Bella, but no way was she going to want Bella more than Bella wanted her. And right now, all she wanted to do was take Bella, to make her scream her name until she passed out. She wasn't in love with her, this was just a game, it had to be. Rosalie the predator was back.

###

"_Rosalie…Rose…Rose, you have to let me touch you, you have to," _Bella begged. Rosalie put a finger to Bella's lips to silence her.

"_Patience, Bella, patience. Patience is a virtue." _Rosalie smirked and buried her head in Bella's neck, taking in the sweet smell of her sweat as she captured Bella's pulse point with her lips. She began to suck and Bella groaned loudly.

"_Shhh…"_ Rosalie growled seductively from her spot at Bella's neck. _"You don't want to wake your roommates, Bella."_

"_Then don't fucking do that, don't fucking kiss me there," _Bella husked in response. _"As a matter of fact,"_ she breathed, _"you'd better not touch me there at all. You'd better not touch me anywhere."_

Rosalie abandoned her position even though her mark was not yet fully made, but she knew she'd return. She kissed Bella softly, pulling away as Bella tried to deepen it, and leaned over to her ear. She ran her tongue along the shell, and took the lobe into her mouth, letting it rest on her bottom lip as she puffed hot breaths. Bella shivered, and moaned, arching her back and thrusting faster onto Rosalie's thigh.

"_But Bella," _she purred, far better at controlling her breathing than Bella, _"I want to touch you everywhere."_

"_Fu-Rosalie!" _She moaned, very loudly, as Rosalie's fingers were instantly at her center, two slender fingers running slowly over her slit.

"_What if I want to touch you here?" _Rosalie teased, her breath still hot on Bella's ear. _"What if I wanted to do that?"_

"_Stop fucking around Rose I can't take - ohmyGod" _Bella squirmed as Rosalie's thumb pressed down on her clit right as she resumed her position at Bella's pulse point. Rosalie had that control back, Bella wanted her more than she wanted Bella and she felt safe again, more like herself. She was about to tease her more, to pull her hand away and continue to torture her until she begged to be fucked, when Bella jerked forward and Rosalie's finger slipped a little farther into her folds. She was _so_ wet. For Rosalie. She was _so_ wet for her.

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And just like that, something flipped in Rosalie's head, like an imaginary switch had been turned on, and she was all of a sudden filled with so much of that adrenaline from before that she could barely hold herself on top of Bella. _So much for control, so much for Rosalie the predator,_ she groaned inwardly.

This was _so_ not a game. She wanted Bella with every fiber of her being, she wanted to be inside of her, and all over her, and she wanted to watch her sleep and wake up next to her and do it all over again. She didn't have time to wonder what in the hell was happening to her, Bella's softness, her eyes, her body, her breath, her voice, her mouth, her wetness – it was all too much for Rosalie. The next words that came out of her mouth were said with more intensity of feeling than she ever thought possible.

"_I want you so badly, Bella," _she groaned, panting almost as hard as Bella all of a sudden. _ "I need you right now, oh fuck I want you so badly, oh Bella, I want you so fucking badly." _Bella kissed her desperately, angling her hips to give Rosalie better access. Rosalie couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her own mouth, but she couldn't stop herself.

"_You're so wet, Bella, you're so so wet," _she husked as she probed two fingers more deeply into Bella's folds. She couldn't stop saying her name, she loved the way it rolled off her tongue, she loved the way it made her feel. Adrenaline, more of that adrenaline, every time she said it, every time she heard Bella pant her own name. _So much adrenaline_.

She put her free hand behind Bella's head and buried her fingers in her hair as she ran her fingers one last time between her slit before sliding two into her hot center. Rosalie always had to work slowly at first – Bella was so tight and she would do anything not to hurt her. But Bella urged her in deeper, lifting her hips even more to meet Rosalie and pull her in.

Rose brought her lips to meet Bella's and began to kiss her slowly, in time with her movements farther south. Bella moaned long and low into her mouth and Rose pressed deeper into the wetness. She kissed her deeply, as Bella completely surrendered to her, pulling Rosalie's tongue in farther as she began to thrust her hips against Rosalie's hand. Rosalie pushed in deeply, speeding up her movement as she began to use her leg behind her hand for more leverage.

"_Oh fuck Rose," _Bella moaned as Rosalie increased the pace, her tight walls already clenching. She was so close already, Rosalie couldn't believe it.

"_Oh God, Oh Rose, Rose…Rose…Rose," _she chanted as Rosalie moved in and out, her whole body in graceful rhythm with Bella's. Rosalie used every part of her body when she fucked someone, moving in a way that had earned her quite a reputation for having exceptional skills, a reputation that only added to her long list of accomplishments. But it was well-earned; Rosalie was good and she knew it.

She caught Bella in another kiss, and thrust her tongue in at the same time as her fingers, earning a groan from Bella that was low and downright guttural. Bella was shaking and panting so hard that Rosalie had to break the kiss to give her air, so she began to suck forcefully on her neck. She could feel how close Bella was, feel how tense her whole body had become, so tightly wound up that at any minute she was bound to explode. She felt so good, she was so warm and tight, and getting wetter by the second, and so soft. So soft everywhere.

"_Rose…Rose…Oh fuck…Rose," _Bella was moaning her name so loudly that Rosalie was sure by now that her roommates had heard. Rosalie was thrusting into her hard and fast, and each time Rosalie slid almost entirely out of that sweet center and then slammed back in, she earned a louder moan than the previous. Bella's arms were wrapped around Rosalie, hands firmly affixed onto Rosalie's lower back, pulling Rosalie in as close as she could, nails digging in deep, deep enough to leave a mark. It was painful, but the best kind of pain, and Rosalie herself was so hot from fucking Bella that she was afraid the sheer feeling of those nails alone might send her over the edge. Every time Bella moaned, a jolt of heat shot through Rosalie, and with each kiss Rosalie knew she was in even more danger of coming herself. Bella was trying so hard to hold her own in, but Rosalie could feel how close she was, feel the hot wetness clenching down on her, desperately trying to keep her inside as she plunged in and out.

"_Rose, I can't- I can't, oh God Rose, I can't take-…" _

"_Bella," _Rosalie growled low and just as guttural, capturing those full lips and kissing her hard. She was ready. Rosalie knew she was beyond ready.

"_I want you to come for me." _Rosalie thrust herself one last time into Bella and then pulled out slightly, curling her fingers inside her to find that rough spot she so loved as her thumb rubbed Bella's clit. She kissed Bella deeply, silencing her moans that had become screams. Rosalie knew the release Bella felt was huge, because she bit down on Rosalie's tongue – hard. She pulled back, tasting blood, and watched as Bella tried to look into her eyes but failed as another wave hit her and her eyes rolled back. Hot fluid gushed all over Rosalie's hand, and she covered Bella's folds in it, spreading her juices around, rubbing her clit rhythmically. Bella continued to pulse, and as Rosalie slipped three fingers back inside of her and quickly rubbed and fucked her to another orgasm, she had to completely cover Bella's mouth with her free hand to silence her.

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Once she quieted down to a respectful moan, Rosalie rested their foreheads together and kissed her gently. Bella opened her eyes, and the feeling behind them made Rosalie's stomach drop. _God she's beautiful _Rosalie thought, and she was overwhelmed by the warmth she felt. In all places. Including her heart. _Especially_ her heart.

"_God you're beautiful," _Rosalie whispered as she tucked a strand of hair behind Bella's ear.

"_Are you okay, I mean, um, was that...are you alright?" _Rosalie was stuttering over her words. That had never happened to her in her entire life. And Rosalie was asking someone if they were okay with her fucking them. With genuine concern. She couldn't believe all of this was happening to her, all because of this one girl. But God it felt too good to worry about, so Rosalie just leaned in and kissed her again, waiting for her answer. When it didn't come, she paused and looked down.

"_Bella?" _She searched questioningly into the beautiful girl's rich brown eyes.

Bella looked different. Something was wrong. Rosalie smiled shyly, nervous. _Shit, what's wrong with her, did I hurt her, how can I fix this – _Rosalie's mind raced as questions flew through her head. She couldn't think of what to say, and Bella wasn't saying _anything_, so she leaned down and kissed her again. Affectionately. For the first time in her life, she was kissing someone affectionately. She had been kissing Bella affectionately for months now.

Rosalie was surprised when Bella returned the kiss, and Rosalie could sense equal feeling behind it. It was the softest, sweetest, but most emotional kiss Rosalie had ever known. She cupped Bella's flushed cheeks delicately, softly stroking them as their lips connected over and over. She'd never felt a kiss like this. She hated to break it, but she was still worried. She needed Bella to be okay, she needed her to be the same, because she feared that if Bella's feelings had somehow changed just as Rosalie was developing them, finally moving in the direction of something she thought she'd never achieve, Rosalie knew she would be ruined forever.

###

The electricity from earlier had been replaced with anxiety, and she could feel it coursing through her. _Please say everything is fine_, she thought, _please don't change, please don't pull away, and please don't get weird and clingy, please just be you. _As Rosalie met Bella's eyes again, she bit her lower lip. There _was_ something wrong. Bella looked distressed, upset. Rosalie could see her eyes get wet around the edges, a precursor to tears.

"_Oh my God, Bella, I'm so sorry," _she said, terrified in a way that was very new to her.

"_If I hurt you, I'm so so sorry, I swear I'm so sorry, please tell me what's wrong so I can fix it." _She brought Bella's hand up to her lips and kissed it, her eyes searching Bella's intently and now quite desperately.

"_Bella if I did something to upset you or hurt you, I didn't mean it. Please don't be upset, tell me what's wrong." _Rosalie couldn't believe the alien words that were spilling from her lips, much less the alien feelings that accompanied them.

Bella's eyes teared more and she took a deep, shaky breath. All of a sudden she turned her head so she was no longer facing Rosalie. When Rosalie tried to stop her she pushed her hand off.

"_Bella please," _Rosalie pleaded, _"please tell me what's wrong." _She kissed her hand again, rubbing her thumb over Bella's palm.

"_Bella look at me." _Bella only shook her head no as she kept it turned, facing the wall. Rosalie was desperate now.

"_Bella please, what did I do?"_

"_You didn't do anything," _came her voice, quiet and shaky. She sounded on the verge of tears. She _was_ on the verge of tears.

"_No, that's not true, I did something, I did something to upset you and please tell me so I can fix-"_ Rosalie's voice caught in her throat as Bella jerked her head back to face her, those eyes catching hers in a look that was heartbreakingly fearful. Rosalie couldn't think of what she'd done to scare her so much but she knew it had to have been something - she scared herself sometimes with the things she was capable of. Bella sighed, stilling herself and clearly struggling to hold Rosalie's gaze.

"_You didn't do anything," _she choked out. _"You are so perfect you're incapable of doing anything wrong, I promise," _she whispered.

Rosalie didn't quite know what to make of that, but Bella was still upset and she had to make it better, she didn't know totally why but she just _had_ to.

"_What is it, Bella?" _She questioned in a soothing tone, gently stroking Bella's fingers. Bella took one more shaky breath, and closed her eyes.

"_Rose," _she paused, eyes still closed. _"I'm in love with you."_

_Oh shit, _Rosalie thought. _Oh fucking shit._

### 


	3. Chapter 3

I own nothing. Except for this story I guess.

Author's note: Okay I'm going to level with anyone reading this: I have no formal structure to this story or anything – I'm just winging it and writing when I'm in the mood. For smut. Because I love reading good smut. And writing it. So I apologize in advance if you can't stand this story, either because you don't like the smut or because my writing is totally unorganized and/or awful. The chapter after this is going to be smut-free (read: boring) because it's like a background on Rosalie and Bella. But after that, there will be more smut. I'll try to work it into a cohesive story, but I'm not a miracle worker so who knows? Anyway, consider yourselves warned. Assuming anyone actually reads this…

New A/N (10/13/2010): Just tiny changes to this chapter. And a few corrections, because my spelling mistakes were unforgivable. But grammatically speaking, this whole story takes Strunk & White and punches them both in the face, so I'm not even going to bother with apologizing for _that._

###

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

Rosalie was frozen. Completely frozen – she couldn't move, she couldn't think. At all, except for the word _shit – shit. Shit. Shit._ Over and over and over. Bella's eyes searched hers. Of course now she wanted to make eye contact with Rosalie again, now that she'd let it all out, now that her confession had been made. _Rose, I'm in love with you. _Those words had thrown Rosalie into a tailspin. She had to think, and think fast. She had no intention of verbally returning the sentiment, but she feared Bella's reaction when she didn't. Not that Bella would be expecting anything, but was she expecting something? Rosalie didn't want to lose Bella, no she _wouldn't _lose her. She could feel the adrenaline again, coursing through her. _Bella is in love with me? Wait, no stop thinking like that _– Rosalie commanded her mind to stop wandering.

Because now she was thinking about how strange it felt to hear that Bella loved her. Good strange. Good. Rosalie felt kind of good. No, she _definitely_ felt good.

She took a deep breath, composing herself. She still hovered above Bella, and their eyes were _still_ locked.

Rosalie had no choice but to wing it. To just act on instinct or intuition or something. She knew she couldn't stay frozen much longer. But Rosalie had _no idea_ what to say or do. This had _never_ happened to her before. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she decided to just proceed without a plan. With no control. _Oh I am so fucked. Shit._

###

Bella waited for a response. Rosalie bent down and kissed Bella's forehead, and as Bella instinctively closed her eyes, she pressed her lips to Bella's delicate eyelids, first the left, then the right, as she murmured _"No tears, its okay, no tears." _She knew that no other words would come to her, so she moved to kiss Bella's swollen lips instead, but paused when she realized Bella was biting them. _"No lip biting either Bella."_ Her eyes had opened, and Rosalie looked into her, hoping that her own gaze didn't betray her inner turmoil.

Bella's looked calmer, less frightened. But she was hard to read in that moment, too hard for Rosalie to read. A small sigh escaped of the smaller girl's lips as Rosalie ran her thumb over the soft palm of the hand she'd captured earlier. _God, she still looks so beautiful._

Rosalie found her to look so heart-breakingly, achingly beautiful in this moment that it made her tremble. Bella's shiny, auburn-brown locks lay thick and full as they spread out around her head on the mattress, with a few wisps floating up and framing her face in a way that made her look almost ethereal.

"_Why are you shaking?" _Bella gasped. Rosalie did not answer – she would not answer.

The room was dark, but there was enough ambient light from various electronics that Rosalie could see her clearly, and in that light Bella was hauntingly lovely. Clear, soft, creamy white skin contrasted perfectly flushed cheeks. Eyes, so full of emotion, perfectly shaped, and a million different shades of deep, rich brown, flecks of gold, rings of dark topaz – Bella was truly exquisite. Rosalie smiled into those eyes, slight but honest, and watched as Bella's gaze changed from one of uncertainty and fear to pure adoration. Actually, suddenly Bella looked like she was in awe.

###

Rosalie was pulled from her revelry as Bella spoke.

"_Rose," _she whispered. _"Has there ever been anyone on earth as beautiful as you?" _Rosalie felt warmth in her own cheeks. Was she blushing? Rosalie had been called beautiful so many times, and she always received it graciously (although it was frequently said to her with more undertones of spite and jealousy than of true admiration.) But it never made her feel warmth. She was beautiful, she knew it. Cold, hard, and perfect – Rosalie was so exceptionally beautiful that it gave strangers pause. But despite having heard this about herself countless thousands of times, nothing could compare to the times when Bella said it. Bella's words made her feel alive, made her feel…something. Once again, Rosalie had no idea what it was. She chuckled again to herself, thinking how funny it was that after so many of years of believing that the simpler emotions of life didn't apply to her, here she was tongue-tied and clueless and falling in helplessly love with some random girl. Who was a nobody and more special than anyone at the same time. _How arrogant was I? _This time she chuckled out loud. _Thinking that I was too complicated, too special to get caught up in such a cliché, pedestrian affliction of falling in love. God this serves me right. I'm such an idiot. _

"_Hey don't laugh at me," _Bella teased, noticing that Rosalie was actually chuckling out loud. Her voice lightened the mood considerably.

"_Let me guess, you're so insanely beautiful and you know it, so when someone says it you laugh, right?" _She smirked at Rosalie. _"Because it's just like soooo obvious." _Bella's valley girl impression was actually pretty good.

"_No," _Rosalie replied, although Bella's little quip made her chuckle again, not exactly helping her credibility.

"_Noooo?" _Bella's teasing was getting bolder. _"So you're not laughing thinking about how funny it will be to tell your secret club of like, extremely hot beautiful genius rich people about when the weird little neighbor you're sleeping with asked you if you were the most beautiful person on the planet?"_

"_Very funny," _Rosalie deadpanned. _"I was actually thinking that I was such an idiot."_

"_Wait what? Why are you an idiot?" _Bella asked softly, seriously. She sounded concerned. This was Rosalie's moment; this was her chance to push herself, to try to open herself up to the possibility that her life wasn't so predetermined after all. She sighed, trying to muster the resolve to keep speaking. She licked her lips nervously.

"_Because…." _She paused, unsure of what on earth she was going to say next. _"Because I'm never nervous, but….um Bella you make me nervous, and I um…." _She stalled. _What the hell am I saying? _She thought, but thankfully not out loud this time.

Bella waited intently for Rosalie to finish her sentence. _"Just um Bella…can we stay together, um tonight I mean? Well, for the rest of the night? I want to wake up with you. Next to you. I know we don't want to get caught and everything, but I just don't think I can leave you right now. I just really don't want to leave you right now, um… but I totally get it if-"_

###

"_Rose," _Bella cut her off. _"I don't want you to leave me either. In fact, please don't. Please stay." _The exchange was intense, at least for Rosalie. As minor as it may have sounded to some, that was probably the most vulnerable she'd ever allowed herself to be in her entire life. She'd actually given Bella an opportunity to _reject_ her.

And now that she hadn't been rejected, the surge of confidence coursing through her brought her down to Bella for a heated kiss. Bella kissed her so deeply, so lovingly, all soft, full lips and insistent tongue. Rosalie began to pant again. This was so intense, too intense actually. She needed to bring things down a notch; she'd already had enough emotional outpouring for one night. _Or thirty nights, _she mused.

###

So, after a few minutes of kissing the most beautiful girl in the world, at least in Rosalie's eyes, Rosalie pulled away. Once again staring deeply into Bella's eyes, she asked her, voice laden with emotion, _"Bella, I um, I need to ask you something." _Rosalie feigned a gulp, and watched as those hypnotic brown orbs below her widened. _I never thought brown could be so beautiful_, she mused.

"_Yeah?" _Bella responded, breathless herself from the kiss.

"_Um…." _Rosalie paused again; it appeared as if another admition was on the way.

"_How did you know about my secret club?"_

"_Oh you are such an asshole!" _Bella shrieked as she smacked Rosalie on the shoulder. _"I knew there was a secret club, do you guys like, brush each other's perfect hair, and like take pictures of each other in super fancy outfits, like in Clueless?" _Bella was giggling like crazy, clearly cracking herself up. _"Oh wait no, you guys actually meet in a secret compound to discuss global policy and then use your insane beauty to influence world politics? And I bet you guys are like superheroes, I mean, odds are there have to be at least 20 other people in the world that are as beautiful as you are, that's enough for like a Justice League team-up, right?" _She continued to giggle, and Rosalie was too entertained to quiet her, not to mention too turned from Bella's superhero reference. Rosalie and Emmett _loved_ comic books – but she'd never known a girl that even tried to understand them, much less reference them...

"_Oh wow Rose, you would make a perfect superhero. Or special ops, like a navy seal. God I bet you look good in a wetsuit." _ With the last sentence, Bella groaned. _Again._

She hadn't really been this bold with Rosalie until recently, laughing and talking about her so freely. And teasing her – this was still somewhat new, but Rosalie liked it.

###

"_Well…" _Rosalie interjected. _"I can neither confirm nor deny anything, but yeah," _she sighed dramatically,_ "I've been told I look pretty good in a wetsuit." _

"_Oh that ego, Rose, I think it's the only thing bigger than that stupid trust fund of yours."_ Bella poked her in the ribs.

"_Hey!" _Rosalie gasped. _"Oh, I don't think so, little one." _She grabbed Bella's wrists and wrestled them over her head, staring down at her with an evil grin.

"_Oh I sooo think so," _Bella retorted as she struggled to break free. _"And I bet in between saving the world and influencing foreign governments, I bet you and your super insanely hot beautiful secret friend team spends tons of time talking about how hot you guys are, and super smart, and awesome, and I bet you probably talk about all the chicks or dudes you're all bedding."_

"_Wow, Bella, there must be a mole in the club, how do you know all this?" _Rosalie feigned shock.

"_Ha! So it's true! I knew it! Well when you're talking about your recent conquests, I hope you tell them how good I am in bed." _Bella smirked, so pleased with herself.

With almost lightning speed Rosalie had flipped them over so that Bella was straddling her, and she ran her hands up Bella's thighs right to her center, spreading her open so that her wet, extremely warm core pressed directly against Rosalie's stomach. Bella moaned at the contact, clearly surprised at the sudden change of pace.

"_Well Bella," _Rosalie purred seductively, her eyes washing over Bella's body wantonly. _"I don't feel comfortable presenting that to the club without sufficient evidence. Can you maybe show me one more time?" _She grabbed Bella by the hips and began rolling her back and forth, rocking her against her own core as she moved her lower. Bella placed her hands on top of Rosalie's and quickly squeezed them, and then lowered her hands to Rosalie's shoulders, pinning her to the mattress. Rosalie tried to move two fingers down to Bella's core, but this time it was Bella who caught her wrist.

"_Rosalie…"_ she husked, leaning in to kiss her neck. She licked a clean line up to her earlobe and whispered _"you told me patience was a virtue."_

"_Uh huh" _Rosalie responded, at a loss for words as she could feel fingers not her own traveling south.

"_And I've been soooo patient, don't you think?" _It was Rosalie's turn to gasp as Bella slowly stroked the outside of her folds. This was that whole other side of Bella; one of the many sides that Rosalie knew she'd fallen in love with, and she was too surprised to stop her.

"_Uh huh" _Rosalie moaned again. Still at a loss for words. Rosalie Hale was _never _at a loss for words.

"_So now, Rosalie Hale, I have earned the right to do what I want with you, got it?"_

Bella was teasing her slit mercilessly, running her fingers up and down it, slipping in and then moving away entirely. Rosalie was paralyzed with arousal, the adrenaline coursing through every molecule, and she felt like she was on fire, on the strongest party drug times one hundred.

"_So let me give you something to tell your "club" about." _Bella was growling. Bella was growling?

But the rest of Rosalie's coherent thoughts were lost as three fingers pushed deep inside of her, and for once in her life she finally let someone else take control.

###


	4. Chapter 4

Ownership: Nothing but my own story.

Author's note: Sorry to jump from smut into something different, the story probably seems a little manic. Rosalie probably seems a little manic, because she is. Regardless, this is a background chapter.

A/N (10/13/2010): Again, I just _slightly_ adjusted this chapter today.

###

She couldn't remember the first time she met Bella; actually, she couldn't remember the first fifty or so times she'd been around Bella.

They'd moved into the apartment next door in November, Bella and her roommates. But Rosalie didn't remember consciously noticing Bella until the following spring – _maybe May or so_, she thought.

It wasn't because Bella wasn't worth noticing; to the contrary, when Rosalie finally realized she existed in more than just an arbitrary, passing way, she realized that Bella was actually quite beautiful. Actually, she was _extremely _beautiful; months later, Rosalie marveled at the fact that she had been so self-centered that she hadn't noticed.

Bella was really, _really_ beautiful; soft, full lips; long, shiny brown hair that was better described as auburn simply because no better adjective existed to canvas the incredible depths of highlights and lowlights that her tantalizingly soft hair possessed. And those eyes – deep brown and slightly lidded at the top (making her always look the tiniest bit sleepy, or maybe "sleepy" wasn't the right word – _those eyes were definitely "bedroom eyes_," Rosalie thought. _The kind of eyes that could make a mind start to wander in the direction of that same, extremely fitting adjective…_) Once Rosalie noticed those eyes, she knew she was in trouble – she knew she was headed into that tricky world of uncertainty and insecurity, and worst of all, vulnerability. A world she couldn't control.

###

Rosalie laughed at herself thinking about that first time she'd seen Bella's eyes and gotten that feeling in her stomach – it was so typical, so fucking predictable, that she was going to have to give up that perfectly comfortable world of control that she'd created for herself. _This always happens to people like me, _she thought. _We create our own orderly, controlled lives just to have something trivial come along and throw them into chaos. Well not full-on chaos, but a lesser, still frustrating version of it._

Rosalie had the gift of thinking in patterns, and she knew the patterns of life, especially as they applied to people like her. "Control-freak" was way too pedestrian a term; however "Sociopath" (as she'd been lovingly diagnosed many times in her life by a series of annoyingly smug, typically small-minded and exorbitantly expensive psychiatrists) wasn't correct either, at least not in Rosalie's case. The pattern she understood herself to be influenced by was more or less a wave principal: work to gain control over each person, each interaction, each emotion in your life, get to the apex where everything is figured out, and then some outside variable will get thrown in and quickly send you crashing back down into a sea of uncertainty. Slowly recover, get back to the apex, and then crash! Again, and again, and again. Rosalie had gotten to the point where she could watch the entire process almost objectively (as much as this is possible when you're looking at _yourself_); she could even see the humor in it. Control was impossible – she knew it. But what to do about that – therein lies the rub.

###

Rosalie knew herself, she knew her flaws, she knew why she did what she did, and she knew why she was the way she was. _Complete self-awareness_, she thought, _most people spend their whole lives trying to get to that point, and here I am, 29 years old, and I've already got it. _And for Rosalie, here was the funny part, the best part, the part that no one seems to ever acknowledge – you can know EXACTLY why you do what you do, what happened (always in childhood and adolescence, shocker; and mostly because of your parents, double shocker) that made you that way, what motivates you, what faults you have, all of it._ The best, funniest part about life, _Rosalie thought to herself,_ is that it DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER. I know exactly what my deal is, I know exactly why something hurts me, I know what I'm afraid of and I know why, I know where my darkest urges come from - I've identified everything down to the tiniest minutia and including the ickiest, most uncomfortable parts, and yet it doesn't change ANYTHING. _

Rosalie knew the greatest myth about therapy, about that self-awareness one is supposed to strive for, the complete understanding of your own twisted motivations behind the things you do and the identification of the real truths behind why certain things cause you pain, what fears drive you to do what you do; to be who you are.

Here's that myth - once you figure it out, you feel better (or liberated or finally alive or some other garbage along those cliché lines.)

Here's the real truth – you're still afraid, and it still hurts. And you still want to do the dark, icky stuff. Congratulations, you truly know yourself!

But guess what; it still sucks! Identification of your fear and pain and darkness does not take it away. At all. It just makes you feel weaker and less in control. _Because now I know the who, the what, the when, the where, the why, the how, and et cetera, yet and I'm STILL afraid and I STILL feel pain, and I STILL think dark things. _This is what Rosalie knew. And she knew of at least 71 psychiatrists, psychologists, wellness coaches, spiritual advisors, and assorted religious figures on the island of Manhattan alone that had no idea what to do with you after you figured all that stuff out.

###

This is partly why Rosalie didn't notice Bella at first – she'd pretty much figured out by now that she wasn't going to get a lot from people, so she just really didn't take notice of them without being prompted. The sad fact for Rosalie was that she'd learned, trial by fire, that most people were actually pretty stupid. They couldn't think beyond a certain point – they were all still looking for the "who, what, where, and why", whereas Rosalie had long since progressed past that to the "what now" part, the part that most people simply weren't smart enough for, or were too self-deluded, to ever get to. This fact didn't give Rosalie any pleasure or satisfaction – she didn't revel in the fact that she was more possibly just more intelligent, that her brain was possibly just more superior. Frankly, it just made her feel lonely. She still _wished_ that she could connect with people; contrary to popular belief, she _did_ want to have friends and she certainly did not consider herself "too good" for everyone (as had been said so often about her). But she found herself so frequently disappointed in her efforts that in the past few years she found herself rarely able to muster the effort to bother anymore.

And she didn't need to – people were so drawn to her beauty, her wealth, her accomplishments, her social standing, that she could put off the appearance of being widely popular and valued without really having to try. She was grateful for this – she knew she was extremely lucky, and often wondered how horrible it must be to live life in a head like hers without the beauty and body to compensate.

###

Rosalie remembered that night in (maybe) May clearly – not the date, of course, but the feeling – she wouldn't ever forget that. She had been reclining outside on one of the two chaise lounges she'd just had delivered, reveling in the rare satisfaction of accomplishment that was currently washing over her. She could feel eyes on her, watching her, but this wasn't a surprise, nor was it uncomfortable. The brunette girl in the backyard adjacent to Rosalie's had been sitting out there most of the day, reading, but more frequently, watching Rosalie assemble the two chairs and work in her garden and around her own yard.

Their yards were only separated by a tall trellis fence with a doorway cut out to link them, and while the trellis at least gave the illusion of a barrier, one could easily see right through it. Of course the darker haired girl still didn't think Rosalie had noticed her watching, staring actually. But of course Rosalie had noticed. And she didn't mind.

It had been hot for a spring day in New York, about 85 degrees, and Rosalie had decided a few days prior to order two teak lounge chairs that she knew would require assembly. She obviously didn't do this to save money – Rosalie just liked to do these types of things herself; she liked the feeling it gave her. So of course the girl next door had spent most of the day watching her – Rosalie Hale 15 feet away in white shorts (very short shorts at that) and a long, tight black ribbed tank, her extremely long legs still quite tan from a recent weekend in St. Barth's, her long blond hair pulled back in a pony tail, just the slightest bit of sweat glistening on her as she muscled the heavy wooden components into place – anyone would have had a hard time NOT staring at her. Rosalie would have preferred to have been completely alone, but she didn't really mind that the company next door was so actively admiring her, and she especially liked that this neighbor girl thought Rosalie hadn't noticed. Plus, the eyes fixed on her gave Rosalie a slight tingling sensation on her clear, lightly bronzed, skin. At the time, she attributed it to being hungover from the previous night's bourbon tasting with her brother.

But it felt weird, and good, and so she didn't mind the girl's _very_ unsubtle gaze on her, or the feelings it was eliciting, at all.

_Might as well milk this a little bit, _Rosalie thought as she walked (more like glided – Rosalie was of course very graceful) over to the pull-up bar her brother Emmett had insisted on installing in the doorway of the trellis divider that separated the two backyards. She was now directly in the girl's line of sight and too close to go unacknowledged, so Rosalie grasped both ends of the bar and leaned forward into the doorway, smirking at this girl seductively and uttering a quick "hey." The girl, who had resumed the "just reading a magazine" ruse with renewed intensity upon noticing that Rosalie was walking over, looked up now and Rosalie detected a small gasp, as this poor girl's eyes fell on what was essentially a supermodel, now only 8 feet away. And leaning lazily forward with her arms above and behind her so that her back arched and every muscle on her perfectly toned upper body engaged and flexed slightly.

Rosalie had intentionally scrunched her tank at the waist so that it rode up just enough to give the girl a peek of her lower abdominals, and her breasts (perfect, very full b-cups that they were, with nipples that an ex-boyfriend once joked were so perfect they should be in the Smithsonian – comic book nipples he called them. Rosalie hated that her nipples were always hard, she found it extremely embarrassing. Her ex-boyfriends did not feel the same way…), anyway Rosalie leaned into the doorframe in such a way that those breasts poked out prominently, and Rosalie could barely stifle a chuckle as this brown-haired girl gasped and raked her eyes up and down Rosalie's body before stopping at her breasts and staying there. Oh, and Rosalie wasn't wearing a bra. _Oops. _

###

"Um hey," the girl mumbled back, quickly bringing her eyes up to a more appropriate spot and blushing furiously. She got out of the chair she'd been sitting in and walked over to Rosalie, pausing about two feet away. _What the fuck are these tingles? _Rosalie questioned internally. _Maybe I tweaked a nerve or something? _The tingles got worse when the girl stopped in front of her and smiled shyly.

_Oh Shit, _Rosalie thought, _I can't remember her fucking name. That goddamn girl and her roommates have probably sat outside with me, Em, and Jasper only about 60 fucking times and I still can't remember her name_. Rosalie, despite her patrician upbringing and generally excellent manners, had quite a fondness for cussing, especially to herself. And right now she cursed herself for not having the courtesy to have remembered this girl's name, only because she considered herself to be better than that. But whatever, there were so, so, so many people that fell into Rosalie's _'forgive me, but who are you' _category that this was hardly noteworthy. So Rosalie pressed on, recovering quickly from her momentary internal lapse in courtesy to return to the more pressing issue at hand: fucking a little bit with the neighbor girl who'd been staring at her more-or-less all day.

"_So,"_ Rosalie said with a tinge of sarcasm, looking directly at the girl and smirking again. _"I just wanted to give you the heads up that I'm going to do a few pull-ups,"_ Rosalie paused, enjoying the confusion on the girl's face, knowing she was extremely intimidated by Rosalie right now and probably thoroughly embarrassed from so blatantly checking her out a moment prior_. "You know, so that you don't think 'why is this weirdo doing pull-ups eight feet away from me without even saying a word to me' or something."_ Rosalie had the humility thing down pat, and she saw the relief immediately wash across the girl's features. When it came to manipulating other's emotions, Rosalie was no slouch.

"_Oh, I don't think you're a weirdo,"_ the girl said genuinely as she kicked at an invisible pebble on the ground. _No shit, _Rosalie thought to herself, _of course you don't. You think I'm hot and scary and a bitch and way out of your league and you probably hated me up to this point. But now that I've said something so sweetly self-depreciating, you're going to feel special and different and very confused about me. And God knows you'll be a lot easier to manipulate now if I need you for something. _Rosalie played these kinds of games with people all day long, and right now Bella wasn't any different to her.

But instead of comforting or placating Bella with any reassuring comment in response to her generous but predictable remark, Rosalie instead just silently let go of the bar and bent down to adjust the shoelace on one of her tre-torns. She slowly raised her head, looking up at the neighbor girl and squinting slightly, and she unleashed one of her best, killer Rosalie smiles. She held it long enough to see the girl's eyes widen and her mouth open slightly to start to speak, and then Rosalie immediately stood up, turned her back and reached back up to the bar, smiling to herself.

###

Of course, nothing had been wrong with her shoelace, Rosalie was just pulling a classic power switch. Getting down low in a submissive posture causes your opponent to lower their defenses and gives them a subconscious feeling of control. Then throw in one of those smiles that makes their knees go weak, but follow it by immediately turning your back and walking away. Push. Pull. Push. Pull. She could practically hear the turmoil in the brunette's head. _God, people are so easy, _she mused as she began pulling herself up to the top of the bar. She held herself up there, back fully flexed, until she heard the crunch of gravel stop and knew the girl was once again sitting down. And Rosalie could feel the girl's eyes on her back. Her perfectly muscled back. But Rosalie was still tingling. "_Fucking Emmett and his Bourbon," _she groused, too low for the neighbor girl to hear.

Rosalie repped up and down, easily finishing twenty pull-ups - no small feat for a woman. She had worked hard to become incredibly strong. But she made sure to stay extremely lean; never looking over-muscled or manly, just toned. Her abs were in particularly great shape because she'd just shot a Ralph Lauren Blue Label internal corporate mailer, and she'd had to wear a number of extremely skimpy bikinis. It wasn't a huge shoot, but Mr. Lauren had specifically requested her, so Rosalie had trained ruthlessly the month before, and currently her abs were amazing, every groove and contour of the individual muscles visible but not so prominent that she appeared to have tried; it looked natural. And hot – Rosalie wasn't a total asshole, but she knew she looked hot. And when she first showed Em and Jasper her stomach, right before the shoot, the number of "dudes" and "holy shits" and high five's she got from them were pretty flattering and definitely hysterical.

###

Anyway, knowing what she knew about her stomach, Rosalie dropped off the pull-up bar and turned enough so that her body was again facing in the girl, but she kept her gaze fixed in the direction of her own backyard. Feigning calculated obliviousness expertly, Rosalie grabbed the bottom of her tank top and pulled it up to wipe the sweat from her brow. The tight, ribbed black cotton tank was long enough that, pulled up, the bottom could reach her forehead without revealing the entirety of her chest.

###

And as she pulled it up to reveal her chiseled mid-section and just the slightest flash of the bottoms of her perfect breasts, both glistening from a light coat of perspiration and sun, she heard the sound of glass shattering and a muffled "fuck," and looked over to see that the neighbor girl had just dropped the glass of whatever she had been drinking mid-sip. 


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except the story._

_A/N: More back story, no smut for a bit because I felt like going into how Rosalie and Bella came into being. Bear with me, hope it doesn't drag too much. Going forward, I sort of feel like making this into an actual story. So we'll see. Hey and thanks for the reviews, they are always unexpected but really welcome - they make me so happy!_

_A/N (10/13/10): Just little changes, NBD._

_####_

Rosalie knew she was a strange blend – she actually had tremendous empathy for those less fortunate, who suffered at the hands of others. If she was walking down the street alone, she'd smile at the older people, or the fat women, or the nerdy teens, or basically anyone that looked vulnerable and weak, or sad (they usually all went hand in hand.) And her attention would actually make them happy – they'd beam back at her, she'd offer them a compliment and a genuine, warm smile. And they'd walk away feeling differently, maybe better, at least for a few moments. Rosalie wasn't delusional, she knew didn't have some power to leave a lasting impression that would really help, but she did believe in the power of human kindness and she marveled at the fact that her appearance alone was actually powerful enough that, when added with a smile and a compliment or comment that no one expected ("why would _she_ ever talk to _me_"), she could actually turn someone's day around. Regardless of why it worked, doing this type of thing made her happy, _and _it also made her sad – sad for them, for the suffering and insecurity she imagined they wrestled with.

_How arrogant of me, _she often thought, _assuming these people aren't happy simply because of how I think they look. I smile like I'm doing them a favor? God I'm an asshole. And for me to assume I'm better than them?_ Although Rosalie couldn't really buy into that last part of her thought – she knew that, although on the inside she certainly wasn't better than them, in fact probably worse, on the outside she was in a totally different orbit.

But she didn't dwell on this, she didn't really think about what she did, she just did it, smiling and chatting her way around the Upper East Side – she liked the feeling it gave her. Maybe it was selfish, maybe not (well, it probably was) but Rosalie knew that she could count on one hand the number of other gorgeous, wealthy young (or old) socialites who would ever stop to smile at a chubby girl or compliment an elderly veteran. The people that she'd lost who she sometimes pictured looking down on her from heaven – maybe kindness would make them proud, because they'd taught her to be good and kind and she'd listened. _In spite_ of herself, she listened.

###

So here is where Rosalie knew she got interesting – although Rosalie would do just about anything to make the awkward teenage girl with greasy hair and dorky outfit feel good about herself (and this empathy she felt – she knew this was why she wasn't, in fact, a true "sociopath"), when it came to that other type of teenage girl, the one that would pick on greasy hair and chub, the one that took obvious pleasure in herself and tormented others (yes of course it was because of her own low-self esteem and blah blah blah but for Rosalie, that hardly justified it ) – that girl would bring out the terrifying, powerful, evil side of Rosalie, the one that got her the sociopath diagnosis in the first place. Rosalie had wrestled with awful feelings like this for as long as she could remember – the absolute hatred for people that preyed on the vulnerabilities of people that already suffered, the despicable need to hurt others for your own benefit without just cause – those feelings worried her, because they made her want to do horrible, reprehensible, awful things, the kind that would lock her up for life. In layman's terms, when it came to other people, Rosalie wanted to either protect them or kill them. Literally. She knew where the bloodlust came from (_an extremely, exceptionally abusive father; a miserable childhood - the usual, really)_, and she knew why she had it, but she knew that giving in to it would be akin to failure, it would be giving in to the pain of her early years and she would become (in a weird way) just like everyone else – a slave to their emotions, too stupid to become self-aware, incapable of controlling their desires. _How common, _Rosalie thought, _how pedestrian, succumbing to an urge like that, how cliché "oh my childhood was awful and I just can't help but kill people" – pathetic. _

A long time ago Rosalie had vowed that she was better and smarter than what she felt, and after working extremely hard to understand the who, what, when, where, why, and how behind not only her serious desire to kill other people, coupled with her strange version of empathy, she was now 29, completely self aware, riding the wave of accomplishment, setback, accomplishment (or, as mentioned before, control, loss, control), and doing pretty well for herself. Rosalie knew explaining any of this to almost any other human being was impossible; they'd naturally decide that Rosalie's occasional desire to kill (and literally) was basically the paramount underlying issue in her life, blame her miserable childhood, and "shut the book."

And they wouldn't have been more wrong. Rosalie was complicated, and she wasn't afraid to accept that her dark urges were just another part of what made her so complicated; yet another reason why she didn't seek out real relationships with other people – they weren't smart enough to understand, much less engage in any kind of meaningful conversation, and most importantly, if she got to know them well enough they would often end up showing themselves as being that type of person that Rosalie hated and secretly (even to herself) feared; the type of person that made her blood boil. Being a beautiful 29 year old socialite in Manhattan tends to expose you to a lot of those "pick upon the weaker" grown up versions of basic teenage girls (and guys). Spineless or aggressive, but none-the-less delusional and cruel, versions of the mother and father that had raised her.

So Rosalie's coldness, her lack of interest in most people, her inability to notice Bella for months and months – it all came from a desire not to see that side of people, the truth that they were not only never smart enough to say anything meaningful, and more often than not, would eventually expose themselves to be exactly the type of person that would bring out the dark side of Rosalie that she was determined to keep control over. The type of person that would hurt her if she didn't hurt them first.

###

Her life until that ambiguous time sometime in (maybe) May had been pretty _under control_, for lack of a more creative term. The previous November, Rosalie had left her beautiful, isolated fifth avenue apartment to move in with her brother Emmet and his best friend Jasper. They were both four years younger than Rosalie and still existed in a totally different world of partying, and youth, and living in the moment - a world that Rosalie had abandoned immediately after graduating college. Rosalie had spent her first six years after Yale ensconced in work, moving quickly up the proverbial corporate ladder at Ralph Lauren after a well-timed introduction to one of the company's senior executives courtesy of her parent's old-money connections landed her a job as an assistant in the PR department. She'd worked incredibly hard, excelled at her job, and soon found herself managing the very people she'd initially worked for, and quite successfully at that.

In a huge company, Rosalie found herself quickly noticed by the most senior people, although more because of her looks and pedigree than her hard work. That didn't bother Rosalie; she wasn't naïve enough to think that hard work alone would ever get anyone any place – that was a charming fairy tale told to the young in order to combat the laziness that would follow if the real truths about success in life were told – hard work mattered, but alone it rarely paid off. Networking, connections, appearances, perceptions – that was the stuff that careers were built on. Rosalie knew this and was more than willing to use every weapon in her arsenal to achieve success.

###

In New York, people like Rosalie were almost mythical – the kind of person that everyone wanted to be and aspired to live like. The company she worked for, Ralph Lauren, was practically founded on re-creating the myth that was Rosalie Hale for the masses: the old, old money, the prep school traditions, the waspy summer home style mixed with the wealth of big business, and the Gatsby-esque dream of beautiful people, elaborate furnishings, estates, polo matches, Colony Club dinners, and pissing contests over who had more to drink after the Bermuda Race or can you believe how nouveau the Hamptons are becoming? Rosalie was born into a life of privilege beyond privilege, of blueblood grandeur mixed with wasp modesty that finds nothing is chicer than flying first class to Nice in the worn wool sweater your grandfather bought at the Holmes Store in Northeast before swamping the flying 15 in back bay. Rosalie could beat all of them – _oh your mother was in the DAR? I was going to deb at the Mayflower society, seeing as my family goes back that far in three separate lines, and did you know we were the first to truly govern Plymouth, but anyways, I was selected for the Crillion ball and I just couldn't do both… _

She knew exactly how to play the part and her employers ate it up. For a wasp, Rosalie was quite tall – 5'9' in fact, tall enough to be a model and certainly beautiful enough for it, so she started that in junior high for extra money, and continued through college and beyond. Even as busy as her job kept her, she managed to find time to fit in a few Black and Blue Label print campaigns (as per Mr. Lauren's request) in between hobnobbing with celebrities and managing a Public Relations department with a staff of 18. All at the tender age of 26.

She inspired a tremendous amount of jealousy, and her aloof, charming and then distant push-and-pull was so entrancing that most of the New York fashion world either wanted her, wanted to be her, or secretly wanted to push her in front of the 4 train (not like she ever took the subway thank God). But Rosalie didn't really care – she loved to work, she felt powerful, and in control, and valuable for the first time in her life.

###

Moving in with her brother, and trying to reconnect with her former, party-girl self (it _had_ existed in prep school and college, although always carefully controlled…), had actually been her idea – it was Rosalie's way of trying to combat her inherent wish, her intrinsic _longing_, to be alone. She knew it wasn't healthy, but without a catalyst, she would easily succumb to the desire to refuse an invitation to a club opening in favor of a quiet sail on the Hudson or a good book on a blanket in the park – ALONE. Emmett, Rosalie's brother, was a total bro – a former frat boy, extremely handsome, funny, charming, and outgoing. He loved to meet people; hell, he just plain _loved_ people. He actually _hated_ to be alone. Sometimes Rosalie had no idea how the two of them could have both suffered from the same horrors in childhood, but yet turn out so differently. Granted, Emmett had only witnessed those horrors – being young, and more importantly, a _boy,_ he had been spared from the actual abuse. But he watched it, and Rosalie knew it affected him.

But here he was, a grown up 25 year old with a modest three bedroom rental in a much more modest part of town, having the time of his life in his big backyard. And he adored Rosalie; he wanted so desperately to have her in his life. So when he begged for Rosalie to take the third room, she acquiesced. As much as she dreaded what that would entail, she knew Emmett's boisterous behavior and predilection for peer pressure – Em did not take no for an answer – would force her to withdraw from her career-justified (but secretly self-imposed) quasi-isolation. Rosalie wanted the challenge – if nothing else, Rosalie Hale _loved_ a challenge. So she took the room, put all of her beautiful furniture in cold storage, and slummed it in Yorkville with her baby brother.

###

And to her partial surprise, it was fun. She was starting to have fun. Only with Emmett and now Jasper, who had earned her trust (through exposure more than anything else), but fun none-the-less. Instead of going to PR events after work to pointlessly chat up Mrs. So-and-So and Lady Something-Something, Rosalie was now heading home to drink cheap beer and shoot the shit with a bunch of 25 year old boys. Emmett had always worshipped Rosalie, and Jasper quickly followed suit, but not in an annoying way. Yes they thought she was hysterical and brilliant and fun, but she felt the same about them. Especially Emmett.

No one understood her like he did – he _knew_ about her dark impulses, her twisted past, and he accepted it. They had the same twisted sense of humor, and together they were funny. Very funny. Emmett had friends over all the time – he loved to show off his older sister. Rosalie had cemented Emmett's reputation as somewhat of a God amongst his college and hedge-fund co-worker peers. On his own he was already wildly handsome, and wealthy but modest, and accomplished and charming, but with his sister – guys would come over and simply stare at her. There was something exceptional about Rosalie, she knew this, something that made her that much more beautiful and rare. She drew people to her like a magnet. That endless blond hair, perfectly tanned, toned body, the bright, piercing green eyes, the face that would "launch a thousand beer-filled canoes" – Emmet's words, not hers - Emmett's older sister was becoming something of legend in the financial community. And as, among _many_ other things that made him cool, her blood relation, Emmett was considered pretty much _the man._ _Everyone_ wanted an invite to their parties; _everyone_ wanted a shot at trying to seduce her.

Of course, no one could ever seduce her. _But,_ if Rosalie felt like it, she could seduce them. And she felt like it often. Her bisexuality was no secret – she bedded guys and girls with the same frequency. This annoyed some of her lesbian acquaintances to no end, as they insisted that no one could _actually _like both, but Rosalie ignored this. She didn't care what other people thought about her choices – when you're that beautiful, you can get away with that. She knew that after the gross injustices of her formative years, it was a miracle that she was sexually attracted to _anyone, _male or female, so she ignored the comments and just went with it.

###

The only problem with Rosalie's sexuality was that it gave license for _everyone_ to throw themselves at her. Even if she wanted to, making friends was almost impossible – most people around her always had underlying intentions of something more, either sex or suffering. Even Jasper wanted desperately to fuck her, but fear of the wrath of Emmett kept him at bay. Emmett was the only one who was safe, and so she stuck to his side in lieu of making other friends.

He was a good brother; a great brother, actually. And in her own way, with Emmett's persistent prodding, Rosalie began to actually have fun. That first winter that they lived at the apartment, they did see the neighbor girls quite often – twice, maybe three times a week. The girls would come out into their own yard as Emmett and Rosalie sat in theirs, sharing a cigarette or a joke or whatever. And the parties – God knows, they'd be there for the parties. Emmett threw legendary parties. Frequently.

The neighbor girls all adored Rosalie, hanging on her words whenever she spoke, goading her into joining them for games of beer pong or asshole or whatever – all of which Rosalie politely declined. They tried to know her, but Rosalie had no intention of knowing them. One of them, Alice, was okay – she worked in PR as well, for Calvin Klein, and even though she knew exactly who Rosalie was before they'd ever met, she didn't treat Rosalie like she was a big deal. Alice was somewhat of a big deal in her own right, with lots of friends and connections and a boyfriend whose mother was the editor of Vogue. But surprisingly, she wasn't an asshole, as most (or almost all) girls in PR in New York tended to be. Alice did her own thing; she was funny, clever, and she didn't push Rosalie into anything. Rosalie found herself actually starting to like her, and although between work commitments they saw each other infrequently, she almost had when fun trying on clothes with Alice, or chatting. It took some effort, but Rosalie knew she needed to at least try to make friends, and Alice was one of the first girls she'd met in a while that wasn't intimidated by her. She was non-plussed by Rosalie's designer wardrobe, as she herself wore the same things, and she didn't seem interested in seducing Rosalie. It was refreshing. So long before the other two girls, Rosalie did notice Alice.

###

The other two, not so much. They were sisters, Bella and Leah (although Rosalie had yet to learn their names at that point), and to her they seemed like one in the same. In reality, they were completely different in every way, barely even sharing a resemblance, but strangely, Rosalie often confused them. They talked incessantly, and tried to show off with stories of parties or money, and they laughed too hard at Rosalie's jokes; hung too closely on her words. Really it was more the one sister that did, but Rosalie just didn't care enough to tell them apart. They seemed shallow, and insecure, and frankly, boring. They had _nothing_ to offer Rosalie. So she mostly ignored them, or made idle chit chat while waiting for Emmett to arrive back from a beer run. Looking back, Rosalie couldn't believe she hadn't noticed Bella – Bella was so, so very different from her sister. But Leah was just so overpowering and loud that at the time that she just seemed to swallow Bella right up. And Rosalie was so busy with her work, and her events, and spending time with her brother that she just hadn't cared. Rosalie Hale was very good at not caring.

###

Things changed quickly after that fateful early evening in the spring when Rosalie had displayed those abs and Bella had dropped that wineglass. The day Bella truly became a part of her life was a strange one for Rosalie, one of a string of strange days that she'd had for almost a month at that point. Rosalie had quit her job that month, her frustration with the politics at Polo becoming too much to make the job worth it. Rosalie hadn't had any problems in her role – she was the golden child at the company, loved by everyone, and constantly on display. But a few of the directors above her didn't feel the same way about her co-workers. They weren't attractive enough, the secretary was too old, the assistant market editor was too fat, etc. They were on a power trip that was frustrating to watch, and Rosalie was unable to protect some of the people she cared most for at the company from the bullying and emotional torture and final termination they were subjected to. It was getting pretty disgusting. She wasn't a saint, but she could identify with them better than she could with her superiors. And she hated what was being done to them. So she quit. She didn't need the money, and she was tired of working so hard for a company whose leaders she no longer believed in. And she was tired of the bullshit, surprising herself by admitting that it was all just too shallow. Because Rosalie knew she was shallow. But as she came to find out, even she had a threshold.

So when Bella showed up, Rosalie wasn't working for the first time in her post-college life. At first, it had been wonderful, the extra work-outs, the sleep, the shopping. But without the wall of constant work to keep Rosalie away from her thoughts, the dark side of her had quickly returned. Those past few weeks had become more and more consumed by Rosalie's twisted desires. She wanted to kill someone. She wanted to kill the men that had fired all of those good people, essentially ruining their lives. She wanted to torture them, to scrape their skin off slowly before… No further example is necessary, they were dark, dark thoughts that Rosalie had pushed away for so many years, and without work to hide behind, they had returned. Rosalie felt more out-of-control than ever, and as these strange urges filled and abandoned her mind (and then filled it again) without warning, Rosalie desperately tried to keep her hold on reality. She was better than this, she could overcome this - she was determined. But she was more wary of people, and more in predator mode than she'd been in a long time. At night she would go to a bar with Emmett and Jasper and single out the evening's victim. She would manipulate them, push them, pull them, and bring them to their knees, and then fuck them and forget them. The way they'd play into her, falling for her tricks every time, worshipping her body and her beauty, it was so easy, so _predictable_, that she'd momentarily feel fully in control of her life again. Doing this gave her peace; it fed her dark urges somewhat. But suffice to say that the day she began to notice Bella, Rosalie was in no way in any condition to fall in love with anyone. And later that night, as Bella walked out to her yard and, noticing Rosalie stretched out lazily on the newly built chaise in her own yard, mustered up the courage to go over and talk to Rosalie, suffice to say that that night, Bella was in far more danger than she realized.

###

The night Bella had ventured over to her side, Rosalie had been laying idly on the chaise, lost in her own thoughts. She heard the creak of the neighbor's back door and looked up, acknowledging that one of the girls that _wasn't_ Alice had come outside, and she quickly traveled back into her own head. A quiet voice, actually a full-on timid voice, brought her out of her trance.

"_Hey," _Bella said plainly, and Rosalie looked over to see the brunette from earlier that day standing in the entrance to her yard. Rosalie smiled insincerely but said nothing.

"_Can I come over? Would you mind, unless I'm interrupting or something? You looked lost in thought, what are you thinking?"_ That was a pretty personal question coming from a girl she barely knew. _Oh no you're not interrupting anything, _Rosalie thought to herself. _I was just picturing what it would be like to cut off a man's airway with a wire as I looked him in the eyes. Just thinking about what he'd look like as he died. You know, usual thoughts, no big deal, that's cool with you, right? _Rosalie couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of saying that. But Bella took the chuckle as an invitation and walked over, plopping herself on the second chaise, two feet across from Rosalie. _Oh fucking great, goddammit,_ Rosalie muffled an exasperated sigh as she realized the girl really actually intended to interrupt her alone time to talk about something banal and boring. _If she wants to discuss "guy trouble" I'm so out of here, fuck manners,_ she groused to herself. But Rosalie had manners, and they were so ingrained in her that she barely had to think before she uttered:

"_It's so nice of you to stop over. Can I get you a drink?"_ Ever the hostess, Rosalie had learned well from her patrician mother. She might think about slicing someone's jugular, but not before she at least _offered_ him a gin and tonic.

"_Um, sure," _Bella responded, sounding a bit shaky. Rosalie noticed this and wondered if something was the matter with her. Actually, by the sound of her voice, she _knew_ something was the matter. _Dear God please don't tell me about your fucking boyfriend. _ But her feet carried her to the outdoor fridge (Emmett _was_ the consummate partier, after all) and she offered Bella its contents. Bella chose a cold, perfectly cheap beer, and Rosalie inwardly noticed. She had lavish tastes, "champagne taste" as her mother called it, but when it came to beer, Rosalie liked it light and cheap, no pretenses.

"_Mmm, good call," _she remarked, slipping the beer into a promotional cozy she'd gotten for a lacrosse tournament at least 10 years prior. She smiled, hoping to put the girl at ease, because for some reason she had the desire to put the girl at ease. She glided back to her chaise, noting that Bella took her body in somewhat obviously the entire time. She cracked the beer for Bella and handed it to her, smirking somewhat.

_###_

"_Oh thank you,"_ Bella offered. _"Opened and everything – full service around here, yeah?"_ Aw, she was making a joke.

"_Always," _Rosalie quipped back without a moment's hesitation. _"So…what's up, you look troubled?"_

"_Um, I just…" _Bella stumbled over her reply as her eyes raked over Rosalie's legs. She gulped, and then continued. _"It's just, um…a really close friend of mine died this morning and my sister isn't home and um…I don't have anyone to talk to." _She stared at her feet suddenly finding her cheap Nine West flats very interesting. _"Not that I want to talk to her anyway, I mean, she can just be, um…a little much."_

"_Oh no, I'm so sorry." _Rosalie wanted to say her name but she couldn't remember the damn thing. Hopefully it would come out in conversation; it was way too late to ask. _"This must be incredibly hard for you."_

"_It, um, it is," _she replied, meeting Rosalie's eyes. Rosalie noted that her eyes were kind of interesting. _"I just feel so strange, like empty but um…not as sad as I feel like I should be, and um…I just, I've never had to deal with this." _Normally this kind of thing secretly pissed Rosalie off. She'd experienced so much death in her life. Along with the countless deaths of grandparents and uncles and mothers and fathers and siblings of friends, Rosalie first came face-to-face with death when one of her closest friends died of an asthma attack during football practice. Rosalie was 11, and the realization that people you loved could just disappear shook her to the core. Soon after, another friend was hit by a truck and lay in a coma for weeks before his parents pulled the plug. Rosalie was also, at that time, busy visiting her beloved grandmother, the only person that had ever stood up to her father and protected her, who had slowly succumbed to Alzheimer's and now lay as a babbling vegetable in a home close by. The icing on the cake for Rosalie was during her first year of prep school when her best friend since birth, the one person she confided in about the abuse at the hands of her father, hit a tree during a ski trip. It was a truly freak accident, but she had hit her head so hard that something in her brain ruptured. Rosalie was the first one in the woods to get her – they had been skiing in tandem, trying to make tracks like in the Warren Miller movies they loved, when she caught and edge and flew into the trees. Rosalie held her as she died in her arms.

The rest of her teens years were plagued with loss, two uncles that had acted as her father figures, more friends, siblings of friends, etc etc. She resigned herself to the fact that mortality was fleeting, and sometimes horrible things happened for no reason. But she struggled with the fear of the people she loved disappearing for years since. So she felt resentment to people her age, as Bella was, that were experiencing death for the _first_ time. And not even someone that close, just a friend. Rosalie couldn't sympathize. But Bella looked so fragile, so sad, that Rosalie began to comfort her anyway, and they talked about her friend, and the feelings Bella was experiencing, for over an hour.

"_How did you get to be so wise, especially at our age?"_ Bella questioned her.

"_I've dealt with a lot of loss; I guess you could say I have experience." _She signed and looked directly into Bella's eyes. _"Everyone has their shit; it happens. I just got it earlier than most. But it doesn't diminish the pain when it happens again." _That was a lie. Rosalie had learned to diminish the pain, to close off and not feel. But she wanted Bell to feel like her grief was important. She wanted to make the girl feel better. This desire was a bit strange for Rosalie. She looked Bella up and down. She was much prettier than Rosalie had first thought. Hidden behind that hair and those hideous work clothes was quite a beautiful girl. _Decent body_, Rosalie thought, _maybe I'll give her a pity fuck._" But something in Bella's eyes told Rosalie no, that this girl might be worth more than that. She was oddly drawn to her…

"_Rose…um, can I call you that?"_ Okay no one called Rosalie that. Not even her own brother; Rosalie hated that nickname, and for a good, but not worth getting into, reason. Calling her "Rose" was a sure way to get you on her shit list, and being on Rosalie's shit list wasn't pleasant. So Rosalie was caught off-guard for a second by Bella's question, but it had sounded so sweet, so genuine, that Rosalie didn't want to be rude by refusing her.

"_Yes," _Rosalie responded. She liked to use as few words as necessary. It left people guessing, and it gave as little away about her as possible. During their conversation, she'd noticed that Bella was somewhat the same way. Most likely not for the same reasons, but regardless, Bella was careful with her words. She paused often, clearly reviewing what she was about to say before it spilled out. She didn't babble, unless she was nervous (which she was more than a few times during their "chat") but for the most part, Bella seemed careful not to say the first thing that came to mind. This was slightly unusual, especially in New York, a city where everyone would forego listening in favor of just waiting for you to finish your sentence so that they could follow up with something smarter or more impressive. And, Rosalie noted, this was very unlike the other girl in their apartment, the other sister. Rosalie couldn't remember her name either. But she realized she liked that about this shy brunette; she respected that the girl was careful with her words. So this caused her to listen closer as she waited for Bella to continue.

"_Um, Rose, I just…" _she looked down again, she seemed so unsure. Why was the girl so unsure? _"I just am really glad that I got to talk to you." _She paused and looked up at Rosalie with a shy smile. _"I've wanted to for a long time, and even though this isn't really under the best of circumstances, I'm kind of glad it allowed me to come over here. Like, I um…I want to get to know-"_

"_What up stud?" _Emmett burst through the door, clearly home from work. Stud was his nickname for Rosalie; she often thought he might be more proud of her sexual conquests than she was. _"Oh hey Bella, what's up sexy?" _Emmett winked at her. Bella looked down uncomfortably. _"Dude did I interrupt something intense?"_

_Bella, _Rosalie repeated in her head, _okay so it's Bella. Bella, Bella, Bella. I have to remember this._

"_Yeah dipshit," _Rosalie beamed at him, feeling both annoyed and relieved by the interruption. _"One of Bella's close friends died this morning. God you're an asshole." _Rosalie laughed, hoping Bella picked up on her sarcasm. Bella couldn't help but chuckle and Rosalie was surprisingly relieved.

"_Oh shit Bella, I'm so sorry, what happened?"_

"_Um, cocaine overdose. I haven't really lost anyone important before, so it's weird." _Bella paused, staring at those god-awful flats again. _"Have you?"_

"_Oh yeah well um..." _Emmett responded. _"Yeah a lot actually. But um Rosalie's had it way worse, I mean, her best friend died in her arms when she was only 14 and then God like, Uncle Larry and Uncle Francis and her friend Cricket in that car accident and then Fletch and Harry and god before that her other like, best friend Russell just dropped dead of an asthma attack when they were only eleven and then Hunter and-"_

"_Okay," _Rosalie cut him off, trying not to sound irritated. _"I think she get's the picture." _Rosalie was mortified; she did _not_ want Bella knowing such intimate details about her. She knew she had to play it off and not give away how uncomfortable Emmett's verbal "barfing" had just made her.

"_Oh my God Rose I had no idea, oh God I must have sounded like such an ass-"_ again she had to cut someone off, this time Bella.

"_Bella, don't be an idiot, that has nothing to do with you. Grief isn't a competition, okay? Just because you know about me, it doesn't change what we talked about, okay?" _Rosalie caught her square in the eye and was stunned by how significant their look felt. She couldn't help herself, so she leaned over to Bella and put a hand lightly on Bella's thigh, under the guise of comforting her. _"I'm so sorry about what happened, Bella." _Bella had shuddered slightly when Rosalie's skin met hers, and now her eyes were transfixed on Rosalie's hand. Rosalie decided to push it even further by rubbing her thumb a bit. This clearly affected Bella, who looked startled and maybe even a little uncomfortable, but there was no reason to be – this was just a person comforting another person, right? Then Bella did something unexpected, and brought her hand over Rosalie's.

"_Thanks Rose,"_ she said softly. _"I'm going to hit the ladies room and get a glass of wine, anyone interested?"_

"_In the bathroom or the wine?" _Emmett quipped flirtatiously. Rosalie smirked at him as Bella walked off.

"_Yoah rehtahded," _Rosalie teased Emmett in her very best Boston accent.

"_Yoo ahhh," _he teased back.

Rosalie stared down at her hand like it was some strange object she'd never laid eyes on. It was _tingling. _From where Bella touched it. It was _tingling. _This was all getting a bit strange.

"_Um, Rose?"_ Emmett questioned sarcastically. _"Since when do you let anyone ever call you Rose?"_

"_Since right now," _She sighed, exasperated. _"She asked me if she could call me Rose and I felt like I'd offend her if I said no, so whatever."_

"_Since when do you care if someone gets offended?"_ He snarked the rebuttal back at her.

"_Dude her friend just died. Oh and by the way thanks asshole for revealing my whole life history. I was absolutely dying for her to know every secret, but just didn't know how to tell her myself." _Her voice was a blend of sarcasm and ice, and it didn't go unnoticed.

"_Sorry Rosalie," _he said, actually being sincere. _"I just get annoyed when people talk in front of you about these ridiculous, insignificant things when I know you've been through so much. I just kind of wanted to put her in her place, you know?" _Rosalie did know what he meant. _"I just didn't want her to think that her life was just sooooo horrible because some random friend died of too much blow. I mean, she's like 29 or something. Like, grow up."_

Emmett's sentiment surprised Rosalie. He'd always been awfully protective, but she didn't realize he was also almost as bitter about the loses they'd endured as she was. She could hear Bella puttering near her door, and decided to make an exit before the girl came back out. _That was enough for one night,_ she mused.

But she wanted to leave not just because of that, she also wanted to leave so that Bella would feel her absence. Without even realizing it, she'd already started trying to seduce Bella. Somehow the girl had gone from a nameless nobody to someone that had intrigued Rosalie more than she'd been intrigued in months, no years. All in the span of 10 hours. Rosalie said her goodnights to Em and sauntered inside.

###

Over the next few months, Rosalie and Bella grew closer. Rosalie found herself growing oddly interested in her; she was attracted to her, but more than that, she was actually starting to enjoy interacting with Bella. They would meet up on the chaises at night after Rosalie returned from the gym or an event or whatever, and they'd sip beer and share a cigarette and just talk. Rosalie knew that Bella wanted her; her eyes raked over Rosalie every time she had the chance, making it almost painfully obvious. But other than that, she did nothing. No comments about how hot Rosalie was, no come-ons, nothing. It was strange, and Rosalie actually found herself growing frustrated. Everyone complimented her, everyone threw themselves at her, why wasn't she? Rosalie wondered if she was shy or maybe scared or unsure, but the way she undressed Rosalie with her eyes on an almost constant basis told her differently.

But in a way, the lack of come-ons was a relief. Rosalie began to relish the blatant stares, combined with the hesitant conversation. It was so….seductive. Rosalie knew it was attracting her, but she couldn't help herself. As the weeks wore on, and Bella and Rosalie became closer and closer, Rosalie found herself so focused on her interactions with Bella that her dark thoughts would leave her for days at a time. She felt different, excited, and slightly out-of-control, but in a good way. And then sometimes she felt panicked and weird that this random girl seemed to have some kind of hold over her that she couldn't understand or explain away. But Bella was kind of addictive, and Rosalie couldn't bear to tear herself away.

She knew Bella was at least attracted to her body, so she began to show it off, working out in front of her, wearing lower cut cocktail dresses to events so that Bella would ogle her when she returned home. And it _was_ working. Bella could barely form sentences when Rosalie was doing pull-ups, and she seemed to audibly gulp whenever Rose came home in another, even sexier, dress. Bella was actually so obvious that Emmett and Jasper picked up on it, and they teased Rosalie mercilessly for torturing Bella. But what they didn't realize was that Rosalie had started to want her back, as the months wore on she started to want her more than anything.

By the beginning of July, Bella was leaving her hand lightly in Rosalie's after she'd hand her a drink or pass a cigarette. In turn, Rosalie would intentionally leave her leg touching Bella's as they sat under the outdoor dining table.

The touching became more and more frequent, and it was driving Rosalie _crazy_ with want. She marveled at the fact that this girl could do such a thing to her. The subtle touches felt so hot on her skin. She couldn't get enough of them, and apparently, neither could Bella, because she seemed to find reasons to touch Rosalie to the point where it was comical. She was constantly playing with Rosalie's hair, or resting their legs together, or grabbing her hand and comparing their fingers, or dropping it lightly to her thigh. She couldn't sit without Bella's shoulder "accidentally" pressed against hers, but she loved it, and had long forgone the chaise lounges for a bench at the outdoor table that could fit them both.

But it wasn't just the touching that was driving Rosalie to the edge. The looks that they shared were growing more and more intense. Bella would catch her eyes and they would just look deeply at each other for what seemed like full minutes, neither one able to break the gaze. Bella would catch her eyes at their parties, during their dinners, when Emmett was talking, or Leah was talking, or basically when anyone was talking. And when they talked to each other, they stared so deeply that sometimes even Rosalie, who could handle anything, would be forced to look away.

By the end of July, Rosalie was putting her arm around Bella protectively anytime someone teased her, or when she wanted to prove a point, or really anything that seemed like a quasi-legitimate reason for a friend to put their arm around another friend. But Bella and Rosalie were not friends; she knew it, and knew it was only a matter of time before they wouldn't be able to help themselves. However Rosalie, for reasons she couldn't quite grasp, refused to push the relationship along, even though she knew she was fully capable of switching herself into her predator mode and seducing Bella into her bed in a matter of minutes.

But she didn't want it that way; she didn't want Bella that way. Some part of her wanted this to feel more real. She wanted it to be natural. This strange new Rosalie was emerging that actually didn't want to have control. Well sometimes, at least. Other times she agonized over what was happening to her, rehashing her fears over and over in her mind. But seeing Bella, and seeing her almost every night at this point, was keeping Rosalie from going to her dark place; keeping her out of her own head.

###


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.

A/N (10/16/10) – Just a few corrections have been made, nothing big. Unless otherwise indicated, the story is always from Rosalie's perspective.

###

During those months, Bella had shared what seemed like everything with Rosalie. She was, not surprisingly, much more of an open book, and she volunteered her fears, and her dreams, and her feelings up to Rosalie willingly. Except that she didn't entirely.

Bella had a boyfriend named Edward, who was never around, but when Bella spoke of her relationship with him, she lied. She talked about how much she cared about him, how perfect he was, and nice, and fun, when Rosalie could easily see how much he bored her. She broke plans with him whenever she could, seemingly avoiding him at all costs, and when he was at the apartment, Bella followed Rosalie around like a dog. At parties she affixed herself to Rosalie and completely ignored Edward.

Rosalie knew what this was – Bella was either in complete denial about her feelings for Rosalie and trying to convince herself through words that Edward was the right person to be with, _or _she was just denying it to Rosalie. Rosalie wasn't entirely sure, but hoped for the latter. Straight girls in denial were hard work, and Rosalie didn't think Bella would be able to keep her interest if she ventured down that slope.

Because Rosalie really did want to stay interested. She found Bella fascinating; there was something about her that Rosalie couldn't pull away from. She wasn't the smartest or most interesting, and certainly not the most experienced or cultured person Rosalie had ever met, but even when their conversations were totally banal, she couldn't seem to un-hook herself.

###

On a day in early August, things changed. It was August 8th actually; a Saturday. They'd gone to Coney Island on a whim – Bella, Leah, Leah's four very annoying friends, and Rosalie.

Normally, Rosalie would have been too embarrassed to be seen with anyone but Bella, and had, of course, refused to take a _subway_ to the grossest beach on planet earth. But Bella had whined and begged, and during Rosalie's fourth emphatic no, Bella dropped her hand to Rosalie's thigh and moved it ever so slightly inward. As if this wasn't enough, her eyes searched Rosalie's deeply as she began to run her fingers up and down Rosalie's mid, almost _inner, _thigh.

"_God your muscles are crazy," _she said. _"Your body is insane." _To her own embarrassment, Rosalie gulped audibly. It was the first real compliment Bella had given her. And her hand on Rosalie's thigh, the direct eye contact – Bella was making her intentions known. At least Rosalie hoped she was.

"_Dirty pool, Bella, dirty pool," _Rosalie rolled her eyes. _A subway to Coney Island, _Rosalie mused. _You've got to be kidding me…_

_###_

Needless to say, soon after she found herself on the D train staring at the four catty losers that Leah had brought along as they berated Rosalie with questions about the fashion world, or her summer home, or why she wasn't working, or who did her highlights.

These girls were all marginally attractive, clueless bitches, and not surprisingly, they were obviously intimidated by Rosalie. For the duration of what was a _ridiculously_ long subway ride, Leah and her dork pack continued to subtly snipe at her, trying to "big time" her with pointless stories about some celebrity they knew or blah blah.

Normally girls like this would have irritated Rosalie enough to warrant some kind of rebuttal. Especially since none of them seemed to be very nice to Bella. But with Bella resting her head on Rosalie's shoulder, pretending to be sleepy, a hand (hidden by her beach bag) resting on Rosalie's thigh _again, _Rosalie could have cared less.

###

Bella was wearing a soft grey cotton t-shirt with a Florida Gators logo on it (the girl _loved_ college football; something Rosalie didn't even try to comprehend), and the muted grey of the shirt actually enhanced her soft brown eyes. She had on the pair of white shorts, slightly worn and ratty, but on Bella, they looked _good. _At least, in Rosalie's eyes they did. Over the past few months, Rosalie had found herself caring less and less about the girl's wardrobe (and even though this may sound ridiculous, for Rosalie this was a big deal. She was critical by nature when it came to fashion, but with Bella it had stopped mattering. She didn't care what the girl was wearing, as long as she was _there._)

As Bella kept herself firmly affixed to Rosalie during the horrifically endless ride to that tacky beach, Rosalie wondered to herself why she didn't just make her move on Bella. Rosalie Hale had never felt so shy or unsure about another person in her life. Why couldn't she just be the predator that she was and take her?

_And God, why does going this slow feel so incredibly exciting?_ These tiny, shy touches alone had driven her want Bella more than she'd ever wanted anyone in her life. And the two girls had barely even held hands. Or ever verbally acknowledged any feelings that could have possibly grown between them.

Not that Rosalie would have wanted that, of course. But as they exited the train into a mass of people, Bella leaned up and kissed her jaw softly. It was a sneaky kiss, too quick for her sister or her minions to see, but it happened. So as they made their way into a teeming throng of tattooed masses on the boardwalk, Rosalie instinctively grabbed Bella's hand. She held it for a few minutes, and dropped it as soon as they hit a clearing. She wanted to see what Bella would do.

###

As soon as their hands had touched, the electricity coursed through Rosalie. The feeling of holding her hand as they maneuvered through the crowd was amazing to her. It was like she could feel every part of Bella's hand; each pad on her fingers, each line in her palm. And each tiny spot where they connected sent adrenaline coursing through her body. _I'm turned on by hand-holding,_ Rosalie mused. But she didn't chuckle to herself; she was too far gone to laugh at her own ridiculous emotions. All she could think about was Bella, and the feeling that connection had given her.

As she broke the connection and dropped her hand, she watched as Bella bit her lower lip in that incredibly endearing way that she did when she was nervous or unsure, and even that gave Rosalie another rush. Rosalie looked away in a disinterested manner, trying in vain to regain her composure, but she could feel Bella's eyes boring into her.

Rosalie Hale, the girl who wouldn't even so much as brush her teeth without calculating and weighing the ramifications of the action, was so caught up in the intensity of wanting Bella that her emotions were overriding her nature to the point that she _truly _no longer cared. Bella was everything; all she could see. She knew that eventually nothing in the world would stop her from moving forward; from finding out what was going to happen next.

And as she turned back to meet Bella's eyes, she knew that something major was finally going to happen. Bella's eyes were so filled with want it was almost unbearable. Rosalie wasn't sure, but she thought she might have actually physically shuddered as those deep, haunting chocolate orbs caught her own. And as she watched Bella draw in a shaky breath as they gazed at each other, in that moment Rosalie was certain that the beautiful girl next to her felt the same.

###

As they all suffered in line waiting to buy beer and hot dogs, Bella told her sister she wasn't feeling well, and announced to the group that she needed some air (they were, of course, _already_ outside.)

Her eyes bore into Rosalie's as she asked her, point blank and in front of everyone, if she'd please come with her. Rosalie hastily accepted, shoving a few hundred dollar bills into Leah's hand and ordering her to treat everyone. Bella's hand latched instantly to Rosalie's, and she clung tightly, dragging Rosalie through the crowd.

When they reached an impasse, Bella leaned back into Rosalie, slightly pressing their bodies together, and spoke in her ear: _"I think I'm having a panic attack, I need you to calm me down."_

Rosalie was stunned – it was a total lie. Bella was fine. But she was creating an excuse for Rosalie to comfort her. Rosalie was finally able to snap out of her trance, and Bella's words caused her to chuckle to herself. _God, we're both such chicken shits it's hysterical. Neither of us can say what we want. It's probably going to be years before either of us ever makes a move._ Rosalie had no idea why she was waiting anymore. She bit her lip and steeled herself, finally mustering the courage to change things.

####

Bella leaned back even further, pressing her soft, slim body into Rosalie's front to the point that Rosalie's breasts had made more than light contact with the smaller girl's back. As she waited for the crowd to move enough to create an opening, Rosalie leaned into her, moving the arm that was attached to Bella's forward and around Bella's waist, embracing her from behind.

"_Don't be scared," _she murmured. _"I'll take care of you, okay?" _Rosalie was more than willing to play into Bella's ruse. Bella turned her head back to meet Rosalie's eyes, and their lips were so close that they almost touched.

Inches apart, Bella breathed out _"okay"_ as she licked her lips. _Oh God, _Rosalie groaned inwardly as she thought to herself, _the moment for being tentative so needs to be over._

As gross as the setting was, with her lips so close to Bella's Rosalie judgment was more than a bit impaired, and she thought that if their first kiss was on a boardwalk in Coney Island, so be it. She was about to lean in the last few inches, when a strong hand gripped her shoulder, yanking her back.

###

"_What up, sluts?" _Leah shouted dramatically, already in full party mode. Rosalie groaned and rolled her eyes, but quickly composed herself and turned to face the interrupting offender with a smirk on her face. Leah shoved two shots at the two girls, and Rosalie winked at Bella while she tossed hers back, thinking that a little liquid courage might be exactly what they both needed. Bella tossed hers back as well and threw the plastic shooter on the ground haphazardly, clearly trying to impress Rosalie with her own coolness.

And Rosalie _was_ impressed with Bella. But for very different reasons.

"_So you sluts ready to party?" _Leah whooped, her pack of friends gathering around them.

God how Rosalie hated that type of vernacular; it was so pedestrian, so 'Jersey Shore'. She had no intention of ignoring such a class-less query.

"_Leah," _Rosalie spoke calmly, evenly, looking slightly downward so that she could meet the girl's eyes. _"Just so we're clear, a, I'm always ready to party, so asking that is irrelevant." _This earned a chuckle and a hand squeeze from Bella. _"And b, you sound utterly tasteless when you refer to me, or anyone else, as a slut. You sound like a piece of trash." _

Leah's mouth hung open, and it was entirely unflattering on her. _"Now I know you're not a piece of trash," _Rosalie continued, _"but if you call me that again I won't hesitate to throw you in a dumpster filled with real garbage, do you understand me?"_ Rosalie was completely serious. This girl was entirely beneath her and seemed to be forgetting her station quickly.

Leah was clearly miffed and embarrassed, and to add insult to injury, a pair of very attractive girls made their way into the circle and right up to Rosalie.

"_We're so sorry to bother you," _they said in unison, _"but you're the girl from the old Ralph Lauren ads, right? Rosalie Hale?" _Rosalie flashed them a brilliant smile, hardly believing the good fortune of being able to remind Leah even more of who she was dealing with (while also being able to flirt in front of Bella in an attempt to make her jealous.) She continued to smile brightly as she introduced herself and chatted with the two girls, one of whom began to come on to her almost immediately, mentioning how she was straight but had always said to her friends that a girl who looked like Rosalie could turn her in an instant. Rosalie laughed seductively, but was cut off as Bella yanked her arm.

"_Rosalie I feel so sick, we have to go." Off course you do, _Rosalie thought to herself as she rolled her eyes, but secretly she was thrilled with Bella's reaction. Bella shot a quick glare at Rosalie and took off, but not before grabbing four more shots from Leah and a lunchbox cooler filled with beer. Without even a chance to excuse herself, Rosalie went off after Bella, who was rapidly disappearing into the crowd. Leah and her friends were left in the dust, snickering to themselves about what an arrogant bitch Rosalie was.

###

Rosalie was tall, but not tall enough to see Bella over the throngs of people, so she just moved as fast as was possible in the direction Bella had seemed to be headed. The crowd appeared to be endless, and refused to break up even as Rosalie pushed farther and farther down the boardwalk and toward the pier.

Finally, she seemed to reach the end, although she was now far, far away from Leah's group, and with spotty cell phone service, had no way to reach Bella, whom she couldn't see. She ran further, turning heads in her tight white shorts and embroidered polo, a sweep of blond hair flowing behind her as she broke into a sprint.

Finally, she caught site of Bella's grey t-shirt far up under the secluded pier, and she slowed to a jog. Upon reaching Bella, Rosalie looked back and realized that they were at least a half a mile away from the crowd. Bella was in the shade under the pier, still glaring at her. Rosalie came to a stop, saying nothing and catching her breath.

Despite the anger her expression held, Bella couldn't help but stare at the sweat glistening on her body as Rosalie pulled her pink polo over her head, striping down to her white bikini top and her own (much shorter) white shorts. Finally, Bella moved her (for lack of a more modest term, "fuck me") eyes of hers up to meet Rosalie's, and her gaze was piercing.

Bella spoke no words, but handed Rosalie two of the four shots she'd been carrying. Rosalie raised an eyebrow at her, having no idea what to make of this strange behavior. Bella threw two of her own back in record time, and Rosalie glared at her, sighed dramatically, and threw hers back as well. She knew this was ridiculous; she hated shots, and getting drunk during the daytime was always regretful, but with Bella she couldn't control herself. In fact, she seemed to be willing to do almost anything.

Bella turned her back to Rosalie and headed down the beach, staying in the shade of the pier. Rosalie could do nothing but follow, perplexed and intrigued, and annoyingly, also kind of turned on. Push and pull manipulation; that was Rosalie's specialty, not Bella's, and yet in the past few minutes it felt to Rosalie that the tables had been completely turned. And surprisingly, she didn't mind.

###

Halfway down to the water's edge, Rosalie decided she could take no more of this follow me wordlessly behavior, so she closed the gap between them and yanked the lunchbox from Bella's hand. It stunned Bella momentarily, and Rosalie took that time to smirk at Bella and grab her hand. She wove their fingers together and pulled Bella the rest of the way to the water.

Bella plopped down on the sand and zipped open the lunchbox, cracking a beer before Rosalie even had time to settle herself next to her.

"_Thirsty today, are we?" _Rosalie raised an eyebrow at her.

"_Yeah, I guess I am,"_ was her curt reply. Rosalie refused to acknowledge that Bella was angry with her; Bella didn't get to have that kind of control. Not to mention there was absolutely no real reason to be angry with her. Rosalie reached out for her hand. Bella yanked it out of her grasp.

"_Oh no you don't, I don't think so, Bella," _Rosalie taunted as she tackled Bella, grabbing both of her wrists and pinning them on her sides. Bella struggled mightily, trying desperately to get free but beginning to giggle as she tried in vain to control Rosalie's movements. _"Listen you little boozehound," _Rosalie was tickling her now.

"_Stop!" _Bella pleaded as she wiggled, laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath. She was _very_ ticklish.

"_Oh I'm not going to stop until you agree to start talking to me, little one. And I'm much stronger than you, so don't waste your energy struggling…" _

Bella jerked forward and bit Rosalie on the shoulder playfully, causing Rosalie to scream in mock horror. All of a sudden she felt Bella's lips replace her teeth, and she froze. The moment she felt those soft, full lips pressing on her tan skin, Rosalie's stomach dropped. _"What are you doing?" _She whispered.

"_Kissing it to make it better?"_ Bella asked questioningly. Her face was so close to Rosalie's; in fact her lips were now so close that Rosalie instinctively licked her own and held her breath. Bella moved even closer, and Rosalie felt those hot puffs of air on her waiting mouth. Tiny, insignificant breaths that they were; to Rosalie, it was like they were electrically charged. In that moment, she felt like she was on fire. They were _so_ close.

###

And then all of a sudden Bella was gone. Rosalie blinked and looked up. Bella was sitting next to her, drinking her beer as if nothing had even happened.

Rosalie collected herself for a second and then pulled herself up next to Bella, stretching her legs out in front of her languidly and kicking her flip flops off, forcing herself to act just as non-plussed as Bella.

But the silence between them was dragging, the awkwardness becoming palpable. _Think,_ Rosalie urged herself, _think of something to say, anything._ She bit her lip and looked down at the sand. _"So you totally ditched your sister, you know?"_ God, years of exemplary training, an Ivy League degree, an IQ off the charts, and _that _was all she could come up with?

"_Yeah they seemed kind of worth ditching though, you know?" _Bella was also staring down at the sand, finding it clearly fascinating.

"_What happened to you back there?" _Rosalie questioned her, unable to help herself. Bella sighed, continuing to stare at all those tiny little grains.

"_Sometimes I just can't take it, you know?"_ She paused, taking a deep breath. _"Sometimes I feel like I have everything under control, but then all of a sudden it's like my life is caving in on me, like everything is going to hell. It's like I go from being able to control everything, to all of a sudden controlling nothing." _

_I know the feeling,_ Rosalie thought, rolling her eyes and letting out a sigh of her own.

"_So I freak out," _Bella continued. _"And I run away from it all."_

"_Yeah, literally," _Rosalie snarked.

"_Oh please Rose, you're like an Olympic level athlete or something, I knew you could keep up." _

_Junior Olympics, _Rosalie, mused. _On skis. Definitely doesn't count._

"_You're not so bad yourself," _Rosalie retorted. _"You were like a ninja darting in and out of that crowd."_

"_Yeah,"_ Bella smirked, looking up at Rosalie. _"Maybe I've got more moves than you give me credit for." _Rosalie's breath caught in her throat. They were caught in another one of those stares again. This time Bella licked her lips. Those eyes were absolutely _killing_ Rosalie; they were _completely_ mesmerizing. And apparently, they could also completely block her ability to form cohesive sentences. The tension surrounding them was insane – neither of them had ever let it get this far before. Rosalie should have been the one who could handle it; she could practically teach a class on seduction 101, but not surprisingly at this point, she was the first to back down.

"_It's going to be okay, Bella," _Rosalie tried to sound comforting. She reached out to rub her leg soothingly. _"I'm sorry you got upset."_

"_Yeah…" _Bella said nothing more, and instead stared at Rosalie's hand. She was still rubbing Bella's leg. Bella caught her hand and stopped it. They both stared down. The waves rolled in and out a few feet farther out, drowning all other noise. The air was salty and thick, and it mingled with Bella's shampoo as the breeze sent the mix swirling around the two girls. Rosalie closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, tilting her head back but keeping her hand on Bella's leg. And Bella's own hand remained top of hers. Rosalie tried to lose herself in the sounds and smells of her surroundings, not sure in this moment if she could handle another tense, "almost but not quite" moment between them.

###

But she was snapped back to the moment when she felt Bella move her hand. Very slightly, almost imperceptibly, she was moving Rosalie's hand inward, towards the soft flesh of her inner thigh. Rosalie could do nothing but watch, helpless and fascinated. Bella rubbed her thumb over Rosalie's hand. It was getting _so_ close to that inappropriate spot on the leg where platonic touching is not allowed. So close. Rosalie inched her thumb out.

And finally, the invisible boundary between friends and something more was crossed. And then she was there, her hand touching smooth skin in an area that there was no going back from. This was so undeniably a moment, and Rosalie understood finally and completely that Bella _did_ want the same thing, she _wanted_ Rosalie. Secretly she had _still _been so unsure, so afraid to make a move and get rejected and so afraid to lose the relationship they already had, that her brain had refused to act. But now, now she knew. For sure.

Her hand was _there, _with Bella's _on top,_ and they both continued to stare at it, frozen for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Rosalie broke it. She lifted the tips of her fingers and ghosted the pads over thin, creamy skin. She heard Bella suck in a breath, and she lifted her head. Bella was still staring down, watching now as the fingers that conveyed such clearly non-platonic intentions, moved beneath her own hand.

Rosalie reached out with her other hand and trailed her fingers down Bella's jaw, stopping at her chin. _"Bella," _she breathed, lifting her chin and bringing her to eye level. Bella's eyes were boring into Rosalie; by now they seemed to be _always_ boring into Rosalie, searching, questioning. And now, Rosalie could see, they were again totally filled with desire.

Rosalie leaned in slowly, so slowly, wanting to savor this moment as long as she could. Bella began to tilt her head, readying herself for what was to come. With one last glance, Rosalie broke their gaze and closed her eyes, trailing her fingers behind Bella's ear as she closed the gap.

Their lips pressed tentatively, lightly. God, even that slight touch felt so amazing to Rosalie. She leaned in again, kissing Bella a little harder. Bella's lips were so soft, and she pressed them to Rosalie gently, but with clear intention. After the third time their lips met in this cautious embrace, Rosalie pulled her other hand from Bella's thigh and brought it to her waist. Bella moaned at the contact, chaste as it was, and Rosalie could no longer contain herself.

She pressed her lips to Bella's with urgency and force, pulling Bella into her. Bella kissed her back, bringing her own hands to Rosalie's face and cupping her cheeks as she kissed her equally as hard. Rosalie sighed into the kiss as she felt Bella's warm body press against hers, and clearly the sigh sent Bella over her own edge, as all of a sudden Rosalie felt a smooth tongue trace her bottom lip, requesting entrance that was long overdue.

Rosalie quickly granted it, but before she could make another move Bella's hands were snaking into her hair as she kissed her deeply and with more passion than Rosalie thought she had ever felt in her life. Rosalie groaned and kissed back, sucking on her tongue, and using her strong hands to move their bodies together in perfect rhythm with their lips. She pulled Bella in even deeper to her, pressing them as tightly together as she could while her hands guided Bella's hips. Bella let out her own little moan, and scratched her nails on Rosalie's scalp. It felt amazing; _everything_ felt amazing; Bella could kiss like no one she'd ever met.

"_Oh my God,"_ Bella almost panted, gasping for air. _"I feel like I'm on fire right now. Rose, what are you doing to me?" _Rosalie's only response was to kiss her again with as much passion as she'd ever mustered. Her mind was blank, consumed only with Bella, with kissing Bella, right here, right now. She kissed her deeply, then tenderly, almost lovingly, then deeper again. As they fell deeper into a tantalizing rhythm, the two girls barely broke for air, simply too absorbed with the feel of each other to bother.

###

Rosalie slowly lowered Bella back onto the sand, and they lay on top of each other, and then side by side, and then sitting up again, then back down, over and over. Bella kissed her with tremendous intensity, never allowing Rosalie to take total control, making sure to do her own fair share of exploring and learning.

They stayed like this for what must have been hours, as all of a sudden it was dusk and they were still laying there, facing each other on the sand, kissing slowly and deeply as Rosalie's strong hands rubbed Bella's back and Bella's hands ran all over Rosalie's arms, her back, her thighs, her face, her hair – everywhere.

This was so perfect: Rosalie knew it was fucked up, and dangerous, and she'd certainly ruin it, but right now she didn't care, because it felt perfect; utterly and completely perfect. An hour later, Rosalie realized that it was now almost completely dark. But the lights of the pier and the full moon rising in front of them had washed over them, and they laid there kissing as they were bathed in a strange version of boardwalk moonlight.

"_Bella,"_ Rosalie whispered, pulling away only slightly. Bella only responded by seeking her lips out again and attempting to pull Rosalie in deeply. Rosalie allowed her for a second, but realizing that making out on the sand in a remote part of Coney Island after dark wasn't exactly the safest idea, she reluctantly broke the kiss.

"_Bella," _she relented. _"We have to go, come on._"

###

TBC

Thanks for the feedback, it kind of reminds me to keep going with this.


	7. Chapter 7

"_We have to go, come on."_

_###_

Bella huffed, clearly frustrated, but Rosalie ignored her and pulled her up anyway, just in time to see a lone man approaching them. He was about 30 feet away and moving fast, and as soon as Bella noticed him she grabbed Rosalie's arm tightly. _Great, _Rosalie thought sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. _Mugged at Coney Island. Just fucking perfect._ But she wasn't nervous; not in the slightest.

Rosalie pushed Bella behind her, keeping herself between Bella and the intruder. She sized him up so she could figure out what to do.

It was a young-ish guy, maybe 25 to 30, and he was shirtless, holding his shirt in front of him in a manner than looked like he was hiding a weapon. Rosalie saw a small point sticking out, probably a knife. And now Rosalie wasn't afraid _at all_, in fact, she began walking to towards the man. _"Rose," _Bella hissed, but Rosalie ignored her.

"_Hey buddy," _she said firmly to the man, who was only about five feet away. _"You can slow down you know, we aren't going to run." _The man looked a little perplexed at Rosalie's surely unexpected comment, but he composed himself quickly. He jerked the t-shirt concealed weapon in the air in a stabbing motion and growled _"give me your fucking purses, your jewelry, and whatever else you have on you." _

Rosalie heard Bella gasp, but she just smirked at the man. _"Oh come on, dude, really?" _She laughed. Rosalie loved these moments; she loved the feeling of total control. Certain situations _did_ scare Rosalie: this situation, however, wasn't one of them. _"Give me your purses or what, huh?" _She raised her hands up in a sarcastic gesture. _"Come on, you can do better than that. And put your shirt on, you look like an idiot." _The guy was stunned, clearly not expecting this kind of response.

"_You better fucking do it, or I'll slice you and your little girlfriend over there up."_

"_Oh so you caught the show then huh?" _Rosalie sneered at him. _"Great so you're a total perv, that's just great." _She moved forward, getting right in his face, and before he could react, she slammed her fist right into his trachea, sending him reeling backward and fighting for air.

"_Jesus Christ Rosalie, what the hell are you doing?" _Bella whisper-shouted at her from behind, her voice laced with fear.

"_Stay back, Bella," _Rosalie ordered, her tone official and commanding. She marched forward toward the stunned man and firmly yanked the t-shirt from his hands, revealing what it had been covering. A plastic knife. From a concession stand.

"_A plastic knife, douche bag, really?" _Rosalie questioned sarcastically. The man was still trying to get his breath back. He was backing away. _"Get the fuck out of here,"_ Rosalie quipped, her voice casual, almost jovial. _"And ew, take a shower once in a while, this shirt smells like shit."_ She threw the shirt down disgustedly. She could sense Bella's relief and felt her drawing closer to her, but the man wasn't far enough away yet for Rosalie to take her eyes off him. She stuck her hand back, motioning for Bella to stop, and kept her eyes trained on her target. The man continued to back up, but his posture seemed to shift.

Suddenly, his movements changed abruptly, and he lumbered forward, shouting obscenities. Rosalie charged right back at him and threw her weight into his torso as she swept her leg behind him in one fluid motion. He was thrown flat on his back.

With Bella around, Rosalie didn't want to take any more chances, so she swiftly kicked him in the groin – hard. _"Now stay down, you pain in my ass." _As the guy groaned in agony, Rosalie whipped a $20 bill out of her back pocket and threw it on him dismissively. _"There you go, go buy yourself a clean shirt asshole." _Now sure he would stay down, she walked backwards and grabbed a stunned Bella. The man found his voice somehow.

"_If I ever see you again I swear to God I'll fucking kill you, punta," _he rasped at her, but his voice was filled with pain instead of menace. Rosalie turned to Bella, who was still getting over her initial shock, and grinned at her.

"_It's okay, Bella," _she whispered. _"This guy is a joke, I promise." _Bella looked back at her in awe, causing Rosalie to puff up her chest a little. She chuckled to herself - this was getting pretty funny.

"_Don't worry Bella, I'm really macho," _Rosalie grinned wider at Bella and winked. She turned back but heard Bella chuckle, albeit nervously, as well. Rosalie was a lot of things, but macho wasn't really the best way to describe a blond, slender former Ralph Lauren model.

The guy continued to curse under his breath as he rolled on the ground, clutching his groin. _"Did you hear me you cocky bitch?" _He rasped again. Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"_Wow, cocky wasn't a word I was expecting from you, but thanks, I'll take it." _The man's cursing was getting louder, as she was clearly pissing him off even more. He opened his mouth to make another threat, but Rosalie cut him off. _"Okay, okay, I'll make sure to watch out for you, I promise." _She conceded, readying herself to run.

"_Just make to wear a shirt next time, buddy. I don't want my beautiful girlfriend," _she wrapped her arm around Bella protectively, _"to see those man boobs and realize your tits might actually be bigger than mine." _With that Rosalie flashed him her biggest smile and took off, tugging Bella behind her.

###

"_Oh my God, Rosalie Hale," _Bella giggled as they ran together down the beach. _"You are completely insane. Completely and utterly insane." _She laced her fingers with Rosalie's and laughed breathlessly. She kept babbling as they sprinted to the lights of the boardwalk. _"I mean, that guy could have killed us, I was ready to hand over everything, and you...you tell him his shirt smells and call him a douche bag? Who are you?"_

"_Oh you have no idea," _Rosalie grinned.

"_Seriously though, how did you know you could get away with that?" _Bella chided her, half joking but also half admonishing her. She was still pretty shocked by the whole encounter.

"_Bella, you grow up in New York, you learn some tricks," _Rosalie winked at her. _"Like if a shirtless guy is still hiding a "weapon" when he's 30 feet from you and 1000 feet from any other witnesses, odds are, um…it's probably a plastic knife. Or a fork. Or…"_she poked Bella in the ribs, _"a finger." _

###

They reached the busy boardwalk and "civilization", and Bella swung Rosalie around and pressed her into the wooden railings. Although she was much stronger, Rosalie easily let the smaller girl maneuver her back against the hard wood.

"_You," _Bella pointed her finger, poking into Rosalie's chest, _"could,"_ she pushed harder, _"have,"_ she took her free hand and buried it in Rosalie's hair, _"gotten,"_ Rosalie wrapped her arms around Bella, pulling her closer, _"me,"_ Bella leaned in and nipped at Rosalie's bottom lip, _"killed." _Bella tried to capture Rosalie in a kiss, but Rosalie pulled back.

"_Bella, I would never, ever let anything happen to you." _She searched Bella's eyes, trying to impress upon her how serious she was. _"I swear."_

"_Somehow Rose, I believe you." _Bella smiled sweetly. _"Rosalie Hale, my hero." _She leaned in, nipping Rosalie's lip again. _"Now kiss me, please." _

###

Rosalie couldn't deny her, she wondered in that moment it she'd ever be able to deny her anything. She leaned in, pressing her soft lips against Bella's lightly as her hands cupped Bella's flushed cheeks and she ran her thumbs over the girl's delicate skin at the apex of her jaw and cheekbones. Bella exhaled, her gentle breath spreading warmth over Rosalie's lips and also seemingly, warmth in Rosalie found much farther down.

The residual adrenaline from their encounter with the stranger on the beach seemed to possess both girls, and they began to push into each other aggressively. The soft initial contact turned immediately into a desperate clench as Rosalie's tongue found Bella's, and they kissed forcefully. Rosalie moaned as Bella pulled her lower back into her, driving her tongue into Rosalie's waiting mouth, kissing Rosalie with an intensity that caused her knees to buckle.

To anyone that thought they knew Rosalie, this would have been a very unexpected sight: a smaller, slight brunette holding the uncannily beautiful, powerful blond tightly, her delicate hands basically keeping Rosalie from collapsing as they affixed to her lower back, holding her up. To know Rosalie and watch as Bella pressed her into the railing and kissed her with all she was worth, would have been strange indeed. Surely anyone in Rosalie's life, as they watched her desperately dig her fingers into Bella's scalp as she tried to bring Bella as close as possible, all while whimpering helplessly as the other girl almost consumed her; surely anyone would have doubted that this was indeed Rosalie Hale that they were watching.

But this was Rosalie Hale, allowing herself to be taken and kissed within an inch of her life, right in the midst of the chaos of an evening on the Coney Island boardwalk.

###

When Rosalie broke the kiss after a full five minutes, she _was_ actually panting. Bella's eyes were almost black as she too gasped for air. Rosalie rested her head in the crook of Bella's neck and tried to regain composure, but found it nearly impossible – all she could feel was the heat from Bella's body in every place that it touched her own, and that heat prevented any coherent thought from forming.

"_God Bella",_ she breathed heavily, unable to form another sentence. They stayed like that for another minute, neither able to really move, entirely oblivious to the crowd around them. Luckily, the crowd was oblivious as well. Coney Island during the summer months is a zoo of oddities and bizarre behavior, and two girls making out passionately on the boardwalk after dark is hardly a rare occurrence.

But _this_ was a rare occurrence; this was no alcohol-fueled, fumbling make-out (although there had been booze.)

Something was happening to both girls - something major was transpiring, and anyone that had been coherent enough to notice Bella and Rosalie clinging desperately to each other that night would have unwittingly been witness to the solidification of a powerful connection that the two girls had been forming. And this kiss on that night would ultimately prove to be perhaps _the_ definitive moment in both of their lives. Certainly for Rosalie, what she gave to Bella when she unwittingly _gave in_ to Bella during that kiss was something she'd never given to anyone before in her life.

###

Rosalie let Bella hold her for that minute; let Bella stroke her back and rub her arms and kiss her head as she gasped for both oxygen and lucidity. Her normally self-reflective nature had abandoned her – she didn't have room in her brain to think about the ramifications of what she was allowing to happen. It didn't matter what it meant to her, or about her. All that mattered was the feeling of this other person pressed against her. As she felt Bella's lips against her head again, Rosalie turned slightly and allowed her own lips to press lightly against Bella's neck, as she willed her own hands to run down Bella's back and rest in the space between the waistline of Bella's shorts and the smooth skin underneath.

"_You're so beautiful," _Bella whispered into her hair. She cupped Rosalie's face and brought her up to meet her eyes. Surely she must have seen the vulnerability in Rosalie's darkened gaze as the taller girl looked slightly down at her. Bella leaned in to meet Rosalie's lips with her own, gently and surprisingly tentatively given how aggressive she'd been with her just moments prior. But if Bella had missed the vulnerability in Rosalie's eyes, she certainly didn't miss the shy smile that spread across the blonde's swollen, perfect lips when they broke apart and Bella again whispered _"Rose, you are so, so beautiful" _

"_As are you," _Rosalie whispered back quietly, unable to break her smile as she watched Bella bite her lower lip self-consciously.

"_God Bella," _Rosalie repeated from before, hoping this time to form some kind of cohesive thought that would allow her to continue. _"If I'd known that you would have kissed me like that, I would have taken you for a late night walk in Washington Heights or Spanish Harlem months ago." _

Bella laughed, her voice melodious and sweet. She moved her hands to Rosalie's back and resumed her gentle strokes as they gazed at one another. Although Rosalie was no longer nestled in Bella's neck, they were still pressed tightly against one another, and Rosalie leaned down to again press a kiss to her pulse point. She dragged her lower lip against the soft skin as she moved higher to press another soft kiss to the sensitive spot just below the hairline behind her ear.

Rosalie's breath came in slow, warm puffs as she lightly kissed her earlobe while dragging her fingertips over Bella's sides as she moved her hands from her lower back. She began to softly stroke the girl's stomach as she took the lobe into her mouth and ran it between the lengths of her lips. Bella gasped, stilling her motions and clutching Rosalie tightly.

"_Bella,"_ Rosalie let the name roll off her tongue seductively. The girl whimpered a bit.

"_Be-ll-a," _she repeated even slower, Bella's lobe still resting on her lower lip as she pulled her hands slightly away from where they had been stroking the covered flesh of Bella's stomach so that now only the tips of her fingers touched her. Bella was awaiting Rosalie's next move with literally baited breath, and Rosalie could feel every part of her tense up.

"_I," _Rosalie continued as she let her tongue trace the shell of her ear, eliciting another gasp and a strong pull on her lower back. Bella was pulling her so close that it was almost painful. Rosalie moved down to her lips, dragging her own across the girl's cheek on the way. She kissed her softly, still stroking Bella's upper abs and ribs with her fingertips, and slid her tongue across Bella's lips and into her mouth. Their tongues rubbed together once, twice, and then a third time before Rosalie pulled away. Bella again moaned in frustration; Rosalie loved that Bella seemed to make her displeasure at the loss of contact always so known.

"_I," _Rosalie puffed air on her lips a final time. Bella tried to swoop in to capture Rosalie, but she stayed just out of reach. _"I want to get almost-mugged with you on a regular basis if it means you'll kiss me like you did just then." _In that same second, Rosalie let the fingertips that had been dancing across Bella's ribcage go to work, and Bella let out a shriek as Rosalie began to tickle her mercilessly.

"_Rosalie!" _ She yelled as she squirmed away, giggling uncontrollably. _"Rosalie Hale you are such a fucker!" _She tried to swat Rosalie's evil fingers away, but Rosalie caught her by the wrist and flipped them around so that Bella was now trapped by the same railing she'd pressed Rosalie up against just a few minutes prior. Rosalie was laughing joyfully as Bella squirmed, her right hand still torturing Bella as her left held the shaking brunette's wrist behind her back. _"You're so dead Rosalie, I'm going to smack you so hard…" _Bella tried in vain to smack Rosalie's arm but the taller girl captured it as well as she laughed hysterically.

"_Aw Bella come on, I thought you were like a ninja,"_ Rosalie teased as she maneuvered the freshly caught wrist down behind Bella's back to join its partner.

"_Rose!" _ Bella whined through giggles as Rosalie resumed her torture, both of Bella's wrists now held firmly behind Bella's back. _"Rose stop you're so awful, this isn't fair!" _She struggled and wriggled in an attempt to free herself. _"Ugh you're so freaking strong…"_

"_Come on Be-ll-a," _Rosalie teased flirtatiously as she leaned in to within centimeters of Bella's lips. _"I thought you said you had all these moves I didn't give you credit for..." _She pecked the squirming girl on the lips and then let her fingers dance up to the bottom of Bella's breast. Bella's breath caught in her throat and she gulped, but quickly regained her composure and leaned in quickly. Rosalie, distracted now by the feel of Bella's t-shirt covered breast on her fingertips, didn't notice as Bella grinned mischievously and licked a wet path right up Rosalie's cheek.

"_Ewww!" _Rosalie shrieked and Bella laughed so hard it startled a man walking by them enough that he spilled his beer. Bella quickly yanked her wrists free and grabbed Rosalie's while the advantage of shock was still on her side. She quickly mimicked Rosalie's earlier actions, holding her wrists behind her back, except she wasn't strong enough to hold both of the blonde's with one hand and had to muster all of her power in both hands in order to keep the beautiful girl from breaking the hold.

Rosalie could feel Bella straining to keep her pinned and she decided to let her keep her advantage. She gave a dramatic sigh to signal defeat and lessened her squirming somewhat. Bella giggled in victory, her eyes shining as she tried her best to smirk smugly at Rosalie, and Rosalie couldn't help but giggle back as she thought how ridiculous Bella smirking actually looked. Bella was still against the railing, and she pulled Rosalie into her as hard as she could while she leaned back into it. Rosalie continued to pretend to struggle, and Bella giggled as she watched Rosalie squirm in mock strain, unaware that it was a ruse.

"_Aw Rosalie, pay back's a bitch, isn't it?" _She smiled flirtatiously as Rosalie continued to giggle and squirm, their faces only inches apart.

"_You licked my face," _Rosalie tried to pout but found it impossible with Bella smiling at her so victoriously. Bella brought her lips to Rosalie's ear and tried to mirror Rosalie's own earlier moves, attempting to purr seductively as she replied, _"I told you I had moves you didn't give me credit for." _Rosalie muffled a loud giggle, as Bella did not do seductive purring very effectively either.

But Rosalie found her attempt utterly charming, and she wasn't able to stifle the next giggle when she easily yanked her wrists free of Bella's grasp and quickly caught Bella by the waist. The look of confusion and disappointment on Bella's face was priceless, and Rosalie couldn't help but giggle even louder as she simultaneously brought the girl into a hug. Rosalie just couldn't help it; she was completely overwhelmed by the desire to embrace the beautiful, dark eyed girl.

"_Rose, I mean, how did you break free so quickly, were you, I mean, I totally had you but were you fak-" _Rosalie silenced her protests with a gentle kiss to her neck, and Bella quickly acquiesced and hugged Rosalie back. They embraced like a couple in love for years, even though they had only just kissed. But neither girl gave any thought to what the hug meant – they just held each other for almost a minute as Rosalie gently peppered the back of Bella's neck and shoulder with kisses and Bella rubbed small circles on Rosalie's back and arms where her hands lay.

Rosalie pulled back so that she could look at Bella, but both girls held on tightly from the chest down. When her eyes met Bella's, Rosalie smiled warmly. _"You know Bella, if I didn't give you credit for them before, let me tell you now…" _ Bella grinned back at Rosalie. Rosalie leaned in and pecked her quickly, then looked deeply into her dark eyes. _"I'm pretty happy with the moves you have." _Rosalie smirked flirtatiously and Bella couldn't help but blush and look down. _"I don't think I want you coming up with any more new ones." _

"_Um, Rosalie thanks but um," _Bella bit her lip and Rosalie groaned inwardly; the girl was completely unaware of how seductive the unconscious action was. Bella met her eyes again and they still sparkled, despite the obvious look of confusion her features belied.

"_I don't um, understand what you mean." _She looked at Rosalie questioningly, and Rosalie's smirk grew wider. Bella looked so captivating in that moment: her t-shirt somewhat rumpled by the day's activities and her hair most certainly mussed by those same activities so that small strands and wisps floated freely in the slight breeze that came off the ocean. Rosalie though it was like slight bed-head but one thousand times sexier. Bella's lips were swollen and her creamy skin was offset by the redness of her lips and the flush in her cheeks. Rosalie could see a few tiny freckles forming on the bridge of her nose from their time in the sun. And her eyes shone in the lamplight of the boardwalk, bright and yet darker than Rosalie had ever seen them.

To anyone watching, Rosalie's eyes must have looked much the same - bright and shinning, but her brilliant greens had turned into dark agates. Her long blond hair was shining and also blowing slightly in the breeze, and her lightly tanned skin looked healthy and flushed. Rosalie wasn't one to blush, and she never really looked red, even after vigorous exercise. Instead she often had more of a pinkish glow to her. Tonight her cheeks had that pinkish glow and her skin shone like she'd just spent the weekend at a spa. Her polo was disheveled and unbuttoned all the way down to the middle of her chest so that her bikini showed through where her bra should have been. Bella had pushed her shirt up at the bottom enough so that an inch of golden skin showed above her waistline.

Rosalie was startling to look at, and didn't notice that night how many men and women had stopped to stare at her as they passed her. But if you'd asked her that night, she would have been sure that they'd stopped to stare at Bella as well, because the girl looked more beautiful than Rosalie had ever seen her. Even now, as her expression was awash with confusion trying to decipher Rosalie's cryptic comment that she didn't want Bella to come up with any new tricks (and Rosalie's even more cryptic smirk that accompanied it); even now, Bella looked stunningly beautiful. And to Rosalie, achingly so.

Bella bit her lower lip again and looked down, but only briefly, as Rosalie captured her face in one hand and lifted her chin with the other. She leaned in slightly in a motion to kiss Bella, and paused to let Bella close the distance, which she did immediately. Rosalie kissed her tenderly, running her thumbs over the delicate skin she found, and Bella did the same, wrapping her hands behind Rosalie's neck and rubbing it. Bella slowly ran her tongue across Rosalie's lower lip requesting entrance, and Rosalie parted her lips slowly. She took Bella's soft tongue into her mouth and sucked gently, tenderly. Bella tried to increase the intensity of the kiss but Rosalie slowed her, wanting to keep this connection more innocent.

Rosalie kissed Bella like she loved her, and Bella kissed her back the same way. The rhythm they found kissing in just that one day was more in-synch and intense than either had ever experienced, and Rosalie used this kiss to show Bella what she was sure she could never tell her. Their tongues moved in slow, deliberate rhythms as their fingers did the same, but neither let them roam. They just continued to kiss and stroke each other, Rosalie stroking Bella's soft cheeks and Bella rubbing the nape of Rosalie's graceful neck.

###

Rosalie pulled back after a while, and searched Bella's eyes while her fingers continued their ministrations. Bella, after her now usual groan of frustration whenever their lips parted, looked at Rosalie questioningly.

"_Rosalie," _she husked, _"what did you mean when you said the thing about the new tricks?"_ Rosalie smiled sweetly in response, and gave her one last soft kiss, before resting her forehead against Bella's. Bella kept her lips parted, eagerly awaiting another connection.

"_What I meant, Bella," _Rosalie husked, _"was that…" _Bella exhaled, closing her eyes in anticipation, and then opening them widely as she felt Rosalie pull away. When she saw the huge smirk spreading across the blonde's beautiful features, she must have known she was in trouble. Rosalie grasped her face firmly, smirk still firmly in place, and Bella couldn't help but smile back as she watched Rosalie move in for the kill.

"_What I meant, my sweet little Bella," _Rosalie taunted. _"Was that if this-" _she darted in and ran a wet tongue sloppily up Bella's cheek. Bella shrieked and grabbed at her but Rosalie jumped back quickly, laughing. "_If this is one of your moves I'm not giving you credit for-" _Bella swatted at her and tried to lunge at her again, but Rosalie dodged, _"then I want you to know I think I'm happy with the moves I already know you have!" _

With that, Rosalie darted in again, grabbed a squirming Bella firmly by the waist, and licked her even longer up the other side of her face, making sure to get as much slobber on her as she could. Bella was laughing hysterically as she shrieked and tried to wipe her cheek on Rosalie's polo. _"Not on the shirt!" _Rosalie cried as she jumped away from Bella, and Bella chased after her, tongue out, desperately seeking revenge. Rosalie was quicker though, and laughed as she deflected another swat from the little brunette.

"_You are so dead, Rose, I'm going to slobber all over your stupid polo!" _Bella managed to grab her arm and pull Rosalie in long enough to get just a hint of her pink tongue on the material.

"_Bella," _Rosalie gasped in mock horror, _"that's COLLECTION!"_

"_I don't know what that means, Rose, but it tastes DELICIOUS!" _

Bella lunged again, tongue out, and Rosalie twisted and maneuvered so that she caught Bella in a bear hug from behind. Bella squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of her punishment, and was shocked when instead of a wet tongue she felt Rosalie's firm hot lips on the side of her own. Rosalie kissed her hard and fast, and then moved quickly to her ear, nipping the lobe with a growl. _"Tag," _Rosalie husked between teeth closed gently around the soft flesh. She then darted back around to Bella's lip and pecked her. _"You're it!" _And with that Rosalie took off, sprinting down the boardwalk towards the subway, with Bella hot on her heels.

###

They continued like that all the way back to the subway; pushing, teasing, running and chasing each other, grabbing, kissing passionately. Bella was intoxicating – Rosalie was sure some of her inhibitions had been lowered by the shots earlier during the day, but this playful, teasing, coy-then-aggressive Bella – Rosalie somehow doubted that this was simply a by-product of some cloyingly sweet alcohol consumption. They were together amidst a sea of strangers, in a strange place. They knew nobody, they cared for nothing – nothing but each other, nothing but touching each other. Bella's eyes were so alive, sparkling as she'd pull Rosalie in for a kiss, pressing her against a lamppost, or parked car, or a bench. Rosalie was equally alive, eyes shining, bronzed skin glowing as she wrapped Bella into her, relishing in the feel of the smaller girl's hands all over her.

And over her they were – Bella seemed transfixed by Rosalie's body at times, tracing the grooves of her stomach muscles, trailing fingers down her arms, rubbing every exposed, lean muscle she could find. Bella could not keep her hands off of Rosalie – literally – for the entire trip back. On the train they snaked around Rosalie's waist from behind, trailing along her pelvic bones and up to her rib cage, roaming under Rosalie's shirt.

_This must be what "puppy love" feels like _Rosalie thought – she felt like a young teen, full of laughter and mirth and arousal and need. She knew the night would end soon enough, but she wanted to capture as much of it as possible. Their playful kissing and teasing continued all the way until they turned the corner to their block.

Rosalie stiffened, feeling reality impending only a few buildings away. She dropped Bella's hand, but Bella ignored her sudden change of emotion and re-captured it instantly, pulling Rosalie toward their building. As they reached the entrance, she pushed Rosalie against a parked car and cupped her face, leaning in.

"_What are you doing?"_ Rosalie hissed, but did not break the embrace. Bella pressed their lips together and released, whispering breathlessly.

"_Kissing you."_

"_Bella stop, what if someone sees-"_She was cut off by a pair of urgent lips, and she couldn't help but moan as she felt a hot tongue requesting entry. Rosalie kissed Bella deeply in return - deeply but quickly, pulling back for air and resting her forehead against Bella's after a few short seconds.

"_I don't care Rose, I don't care, I'd rather die than stop kissing you."_ It was Bella's turn to escape reality. Rosalie clung to Bella's back to keep steady, feeling so completely out of control but unable to stop or refuse her as Bella's tongue found its way back. She was so soft, her lips so warm and wet, and the taste of citrus and mint laced with a hint of alcohol was something Rosalie doubted she could ever forget.

The slam of a door ended her revelry. Rosalie shot to attention and quickly yanked Bella through the main doors of the structure. They were both silent as she walked Bella to her door, until arriving at its threshold, where sudden giggles from Bella interrupted the tension.

"_What?" _ Rosalie smirked, looking down at the smaller girl, who was playing with the hem of Rosalie's polo.

"_Yoooou," _Bella chided, giggling and keeping her eyes glued to the shirt hem. _"Yoooou called me your girlfriend earlier."_ She looked up at Rosalie, partially lidded orbs taking on a more serious gaze.

###

But Bella had unwittingly pushed it too far, tripped over the tenuous, invisible trigger wire that Rosalie had set; the boundary line she'd drawn in the sand to protect herself. Rosalie's internal controls returned to her in an instant, and her warped take on reality set in. Bella would never be hers, Rosalie would ruin it; Rosalie would hurt her. Or, Rosalie had to acknowledge, Bella would ruin her. Bella would hurt her. As much as Rosalie hated to entertain the notion that _anyone_ could hurt her, she knew after tonight that Bella could. And Bella had a boyfriend. And Bella wasn't afraid of Rosalie, instead she was confident, and cocky, and she teased her. She just teased her about calling Bella her girlfriend. As if _anyone _would ever be so arrogant as to assume that. Yes, Bella could hurt her. Bella would hurt her.

So as Bella looked back up at her seriously, Rosalie ignored her gaze, instead throwing her gorgeous head back in laughter, running her slender, perfectly manicured hands through long, flowing icy blond locks. This girl would never be able to hurt her.

"_My Bella,"_ she teased right back, although a very well trained ear would have recognized just the slightest trace of spite in her tone. _"Someone has a big head now, don't they?"_ She pinched Bella's sides, trying to distract Bella from the hurt she could now see plainly in Bella's eyes. Rosalie liked the girl, she did, she liked her _a lot_, and the night had been beyond compare. But this – Bella had no right to put Rosalie in a position like this, directly (in Rosalie's mind) implying that she needed Bella, basically shouting out that she knew Rosalie was weak.

"_Bella,"_ she leaned in predatorily to Bella's ear, and spoke huskily and low. _"I'm so sorry but I only called you my girlfriend for dramatic effect." _She could feel Bella's body stiffening, those soft, addictive limbs growing rigid with each passing millisecond, and Rosalie smiled, knowing that she was gaining control back, recovering what she realized was lost ground and putting this, this _girl_ in her place.

"_I,"_ she breathed heavily and hot in Bella's ear, _"don't do girlfriends. Ever."_

With that she swiftly kissed the girl on the nose and winked before turning on her heels and gliding gracefully to her own door, not twenty feet away. When she got to the knob she slid the key in effortlessly and, knowing that Bella's eyes had been on her the entire time, glanced back over to her, her face a mixture of sex and detachment. The girl's mouth was hanging open – she looked utterly shell-shocked. Rosalie flashed her a winning smile – actually, it was more of a winning _smirk_, and spoke calmly, as if not a single part of the night's events had ever actually transpired:

"_Goodnight Bella." _

A/N: That was a long one, sorry. Thanks for the reviews – I had no idea how nice it was to get reviews until I started posting (I didn't always leave reviews when I was just a reader on this site. I'm working on being a lot better at that now, considering how much it means to me.) I mean that in a nice way btw, not in like a manipulative way. But thanks, I think I'll get into the first time they really hook up in the next chapter. Anyway, I know I'm not the greatest writer and I go _way_ overboard with the run-on sentences and overuse of certain adjectives, but thanks for letting me post anyway and putting up with my lack of serious proof-reading.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews, they mean a lot. And I forgot to say in the last chapter that I own nothing except for the story.

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The next two weeks dragged on mercilessly for Rosalie. To say that she was tortured would have been the understatement of the year: Rosalie was absolutely _miserable._ The day (and night) with Bella at the beach seemed to follow her everywhere, invading her thoughts on a constant basis. She was afraid – afraid of the feelings that Bella has stirred within her. She knew that she should have expected this: everything else she'd felt for Bella had been so typical, so cliché, that she admonished herself for not paying enough attention to all of those cheesy romantic comedies to anticipate this kind of reaction. Here she was, she knew, the reluctant, closed-off main character finally trusting another person enough to allow herself to _feel_, only to have that trust eventually betrayed. _It happens in movies all the time_, she mused to herself,_ so of course it would happen to me. I am just as simple and pathetic and clueless as a generic movie character._ Rosalie Hale did not like feeling simple and clueless; and that was how she felt with Bella – so in to her, so possibly _in love_ with her that it was simple, really. And so unsure of what to do next, of how to marry her fear of having this girl hurt her with her ever-increasing desire to be with her, that Rosalie was truly clueless.

She knew she wouldn't be able to stay away from Bella forever, but for the next two weeks following their "encounter," she tried her hardest. She filled her schedule with parties and activities and meetings so that she was never home. She re-connected with old acquaintances, entertained "friends" she cared little for, and generally spent her time surrounding herself with people that worshipped her. She needed her confidence back; she needed to feel like the old Rosalie – desired, wanted, worshipped, and in-control. She at least knew ahead of time that this probably wouldn't help her feel better – she knew only Bella could do that. But spending time with her "fans" at least reminded her of who she was to other people; so that she wouldn't feel as weak and vulnerable the next time she did see Bella as she currently felt.

###

As delusional as she knew it sounded, Rosalie truly felt like Bella had crossed the line. Bella didn't recognize what it had taken for Rosalie to be with her; to spend time with her; to travel on crummy subways to trashy beaches to hang out with her; to kiss her and mean it; to tell her she was beautiful. She had let herself get lost in Bella and in her feelings for her, and for someone as damaged as Rosalie; this was not easy to do. And it was very frightening. Especially when she remembered that Bella had a boyfriend that she claimed to love, a boyfriend that Bella might very easily chose over Rosalie if pressed. Rosalie knew she wouldn't be able to handle that kind of rejection. She'd withdraw upon herself and never come out. And Rosalie didn't want to withdraw upon herself. But she also didn't want to be without Bella.

To make matters worse, Bella made no efforts of her own during those two weeks to contact Rosalie. Rosalie was used to being pursued; to being chased; to being wanted. It made her feel secure - it made her feel in control. How could she ever care about someone that seemed to not even care about her? Rosalie doubted everything. Did Bella really not want her? Did that day really mean so little to her that it wasn't even worth pursuing? Did _Rosalie_ mean so little to her that she wasn't worth being pursued?

Rosalie had to know, and she had to find out in a way that didn't make her vulnerable. She decided to throw a party with Emmett to test Bella. The neighbors never refused a backyard bash with the Hales – if Bella opted not to show, Rosalie would immediately have her answer. And then she could let Bella go in her mind. And if she did come, then Rosalie could at least figure out perhaps a fraction of what the girl was thinking.

###

The party was held on August 22nd , two Saturdays after the Coney Island debacle. It was a beautiful, clear early summer day – 80 degrees, a gentle breeze, no humidity. Emmett had been so thrilled at the prospect of Rosalie actually being involved in throwing a party that today he pulled out all the stops, hiring a bartender to manage a makeshift outdoor bar he had built for the occasion, flooding the backyard with tiki torches and potted palms, and renting a hot tub. The theme of the party was – typically Emmett – a Jersey Shore fist pumper, and the look on his face when Rosalie has initially agreed with him on his theme was absolutely priceless. It was tacky and gaudy and pedestrian and cliché – it was _not_ Rosalie. But it also involved clothing that showed _a lot_ of skin. And that _was_ Rosalie – at least for the evening she had planned it was. Rosalie let Emmett do the majority of the inviting, as she didn't want to be focused on entertaining her own guests. She needed to be able to mingle and drift so that she could watch Bella.

But she did invite a few strategic guests. Guests, of course, that she knew wanted desperately to be with her. And as shallow as she knew it was, guests that were _extremely_ hot.

###

Rosalie adjusted her breasts so that they were practically popping out of the neon pink lace bra that held them underneath a tight black jersey halter dress that plunged down the center almost to her navel. Her tanned, toned abs could be seen beneath the pink bra – visible, of course, because this _was _a Jersey Shore party after all. Halters always made her shoulders and collar bones look sexy, and this dress was no exception. The back of the dress didn't hit until well below the back of her lace bra, and it was so sheer that her matching hot pink lace boy shorts could easily been seen underneath the fabric in almost any light.

_God bless the Jersey Shore_, Rosalie muttered as she dabbed a bit more gloss on her already full lips. Despite her dress (which was also ridiculously short) and exposed lingerie, Rosalie actually looked quite conservative compared to the rest of their guests. Her hair was stick straight and put up in a much more moderate version of Snooki's "poof," and she had to admit that it actually looked pretty hot. She'd enlisted the help of an old friend who'd done hair at RL for years, and together with his boyfriend (a veteran make-up artist), they'd done a brilliant job.

Rosalie's bright green eyes were rimmed in deep purple and smoky enough to look sexy but not raccoon-ish. The purple shadow made the green in her eyes pop to the point that she was afraid she looked possessed, but the guys assured her that it looked breath-taking, not frightening Her naturally long lashes were thick and dark, and her golden tan was accentuated to perfection. She'd refused to look "jersey tan" (opting out of Emmett's pre-party visit to the spray-tanner) and had kept her skin it's usual, subtle golden color. But with enough strategic dabs of highlighter cream and light blush to make it look extra dewy and touchable, of course. She played her lips down, sticking with a soft pink gloss. When her hair and make-up team finished, they were so pleased that they insisted on taking shots for their portfolios. Rosalie looked even more gorgeous than usual and she knew it.

Emmett was less than pleased upon his first inspection. _"You're supposed to look like a Jersey whore, not a freaking runway model, Jesus!"_ He'd yelled at her when she walked in. _"You don't even look like you're trying, that's like classy hot make-up, not trashy hot make-up!"_

"_Chill out, dude, look, you can see almost my whole bra AND its hot pink and lace!" _Rosalie countered.

"_Oh yeah that's REAL hardcore, Rosalie, come on!" _ He ran off into his room and came back with a wet washcloth and a suspicious looking zip-loc bag. _"You look really hot and that's great and all, Rosalie, but this is a Jersey Shore party, not a Cooper Beach party." _Rosalie rolled her eyes at his lame Hamptons reference and started to argue, but a pissed look from her baby brother silenced her. _"Rosalie please," _he whined, _"please just TRY to look the part?" _Rosalie grabbed her heels that were sitting on her bed and waved them in his face.

"_These are five inch hot pink stilettos, Emmett! How is that not looking the part? " _Emmett just groaned. Rosalie knew she'd lost the argument, and she figured that if Emmett was so aware of how un-Jersey she still looked, then maybe Bella would notice too and think that Rosalie was actually trying to look hot. That couldn't happen – Rosalie's hotness had to appear completely unintentional and only because of the theme of the party. She could _never_ look like she was actually trying to impress Bella.

"_Alright Em,"_ she sighed dramatically, running her hot pink manicured fingers through her stick-straight blond hair, carefully avoiding the top of her head. Emmett smiled as he slapped a piece of paper on her left bicep and a wet washcloth.

A few minutes later, Rosalie was the proud owner of a six inch long temporary tattoo on the upper part of her left arm. Of a 1940's Betty Page-style pin-up girl, no less. Emmett, pleased that his work was finished, reached out to pat Rosalie's head affectionately. _"Hey!" _She yelled. _"Don't touch the poof!"_

_###_

As Rosalie adjusted her outfit for one final time in the mirror, she sighed. She did look amazing. She turned and flexed her back, pleased that the dress accentuated her toned back as well as it did her arms and breasts. Yes, she looked gorgeous.

And she also looked nervous as hell. Because she was, unfortunately, nervous as hell. So nervous that her hands were shaking. She prayed that Bella would be there. She looked out the window of her bedroom and into the backyard, and she marveled at the costumes on display. Many of the guests had already arrived, even though the party had officially just started.

Of the 50 or so people that she observed mingling outside, she guessed that roughly 95% of the boys were, of course, shirt-less. And 100% of the girls were different variations of tacky slut. Rosalie had to admit to herself that this theme was turning out to be a lot of fun, at least to watch. She chuckled as Emmett appeared in front of her window and banged on it, mouthing at her to _get her ass outside. _Emmett had gone to great lengths to acquire a slew of temporary tattoos for the occasion, including an enormous "Cadillac" that ran up his torso (and had to be custom-ordered.) He was shirtless, and not surprisingly, bright orange. Rosalie waved him off, and continued to observe the guests from the safety of her bedroom.

Sam Leighton was there – one of the people she'd invited for Bella's benefit– and he looked beyond gorgeous. His imposing 6'4' frame was muscled to perfection and his olive skin glistened in what Rosalie could only assume was some kind of tacky body oil. His dark hair was spiked-up expertly, and his printed board shorts hit right at his pelvic bone. Sam was a former Armani model who currently ran a massive portfolio at a hedge fund somewhere in the city. He was heir to a small oil fortune. He played guitar. He was incredibly funny and charming. He had a heart-stopping smile. And he was completely in-love with Rosalie. In short, he was _perfect_ for making Bella realize how much Rosalie was wanted. Or more plainly, he was perfect for making Bella jealous.

Alexandra de Menil was there as well – another one of Rosalie's guests, and she looked equally stunning. Another friend from Rosalie's fashion days who was both a major model and an heir to another fortune of some kind – Rosalie couldn't remember which one. She was tall with long brown hair cascading down her back. Her eyes were deep brown and framed by long lashes. Her legs went on forever, and her body was lithe and slender. And she was wearing only a black bikini. And of course, she wanted Rosalie. Rosalie had slept with her on more than one occasion, but Alexandra always wanted more. And she was legendary for making her intentions with Rosalie known to whomever would listen. Emmett at first questioned why Rosalie would even invite her. Rosalie knew exactly why she would. If Sam didn't have any effect on Bella, Alexandra certainly would.

###

With one last glance in the mirror, Rosalie slipped on her heels and left her bedroom. She grabbed a red solo cup and headed to the backyard door. She took one last deep breath in an effort to calm her frayed nerves, and pushed it open.

###

She felt more then saw everyone's eyes upon her as she stepped outside. She smiled coyly and looked down at her feet, faking shyness to work the crowd. She was rewarded from a long wolf whistle from one of the boys, which turned quickly into a chorus of cheers. The crowd was chanting her name and she smiled warmly and twirled. _"Drop your cup and pick it up," _a voice shouted from the crowd. _"Marry me please"_ another rowdy boy yelled. The guests were already drunk and wild, and they continued to cheer, but when Rosalie looked over to the left side of the yard and saw Bella staring at her as she leaned on the edge of a chair, the voices drowned out.

For a split second Rosalie was frozen, but another request to _"drop your cup" _brought her back to life. Rosalie quickly ripped her eyes from Bella's and took a tiny step forward, "accidentally" dropping her solo cup on the ground. The boys went wild as she slowly bent down at the waist and grabbed the cup. The cheers exploded and Rosalie quickly shot up and put on her 'embarrassed' face as friends rushed over to greet her and talk to her. Sam snuck over and grabbed her, throwing her over his massive shoulders as she squealed in protest. He dipped her dramatically and leaned in to kiss her cheek, and Rosalie played along and giggled, feeling Bella's eyes upon her. As she continued to embrace people and charm her way through the crowd, Rosalie had to remind herself not to look over at Bella.

She had hated every second of her "grand entrance" – she felt miserable and lonely, and like a total fraud. She just wanted to run over to Bella. She only wanted to see Bella.

###

For the first hour of her time at the party, Rosalie could feel nothing but Bella's eyes upon her. She felt like a robot, maneuvering her way through the crowd as she embraced the "friends" that had always, and continued to feel, like nothing more than strangers to her. Bella's gaze was fiery and unyielding, and it penetrated through the crowd, following Rosalie's every step as she mingled and flirted and rebuffed advances and invitations. Her gaze only added to Rosalie's nerves, and she had immediately accepted a shot from Emmett soon after she arrived, looking to the alcohol to help silence her thoughts and overtake her actions. Rosalie rarely looked to substances to take her precious control away – usually she avoided anything that could compromise the hold she held over her own emotions. But today she actually embraced the mind-altering powers of the shot Emmett offered to her: she _wanted _to lose control. Rosalie needed a break from the nerves that were eating her; she sought a reprieve from the fear and desire that seemed to be consuming her body from the inside.

###

Two hours and countless drinks later, Rosalie's inhibitions had dissolved into only desire, and she was unable to resist the urge to avoid the shy brunette any longer. Although Rosalie could feel Bella's stare wherever she went, Bella had withdrawn her eyes whenever Rosalie looked her way. Rosalie wasn't sure if Bella was avoiding her intentionally or just attempting to not get caught, but regardless, the booze had stopped Rosalie from caring any longer. She just wanted to be near her.

Rosalie got close enough to the group that Bella had formed near the bar with Alice, Leah, and Leah's minions, and she turned her head in Bella's direction enough to get Bella to avert her gaze and focus on her friends. Rosalie snuck up behind Bella and paused, not sure if the girl was aware of her presence. Before she could be interrupted, Rosalie placed one graceful hand on the small of Bella's back and leaned into her ear from behind, whispering _"that's not a very Jersey Shore outfit you've got on, Emmett must not be very happy with you…"_

She felt the muscles in Bella's back tense upon contact, but she kept her hand where it was and moved into the circle of girls.

"_Hey Bella," _she greeted the brunette cheerfully. As Bella opened her mouth in response, her sister Leah cut her off quickly, shouting a greeting to Rosalie and commenting on how sexy she looked. Rosalie thanked her and hugged her hello, continuing around the circle as she hugged Leah, then two of Leah's friends from the Coney Island trip, then Alice (whom she complimented for looking stunning in her bikini and mesh tank), and then finally Bella.

"_Bella,"_ Rosalie again greeted her warmly, looking down into her beautiful chocolate eyes as she wrapped her hands around the smaller girl's waist. _"When were you planning on saying hi to me?" _

Rosalie watched as Bella began to stutter her reply, but she cut her off, rubbing the small of her back as she smiled brightly at her. _"Well it's not very Jersey..." _Rosalie began as she acknowledged Bella's rather modest tank top and shorts over a green bikini, _"but I think I like you this way better. Much more beautiful." _

The alcohol had done wonders – Rosalie's guard was completely down, and her desire to be near Bella had overcome any kind of cautionary boundary she'd have normally set. Rosalie pulled back but kept her arms around Bella's waist, letting her gaze trace the curves of Bella's slender body. She could feel the eyes of the group upon them, and she took the opportunity to push Bella even further.

"_Bella,"_ she said confidently for the entire group to hear. _"You are the most beautiful girl in New Jersey." _ She smiled even brighter as Bella began to blush, biting that tell-tale lower lip.

"_What about me?" _ The shrill voice of Bella's sister Leah interjected. _"Don't you think I look beautiful, too?" _Rosalie broke Bella's embrace but kept her arm around the smaller girl's waist as she turned to survey her sister. Leah was indeed dressed for the occasion, her body jammed into a shiny Lycra tube top and black mini. Her boobs and thighs looked painfully compressed into her outfit, and were sprayed a rather awful tan-orange color to match the theme. She was covered in body glitter, and she wore a bizarre pair of white sunglasses.

Rosalie raked her eyes over Leah appraisingly before grinning at her and saying playfully _"Leah, you of course look absolutely perfect and might I say your updo poof dwarfs mine to the point of embarrassment." _Leah smirked in approval and patted the monstrous mass of hair on her head. Before she could continue, Rosalie grabbed Bella's hand and announced to the group _"I hope you all don't mind if I test Bella's fist-pumping skills on the dance floor." _She raised her own fist and pumped it in the air as she dragged Bella away.

###

Emmett had hired a DJ and put wood flooring down to cover the gravel of the yard, and Rosalie pulled Bella easily into the throng of partiers that were already happily raising their hands to some trance beat. Rosalie, an expert dancer, began to grind on Bella seductively, and laughed as Bella protested and pushed her off, staying rigid as the boards they danced upon. _"Rose, stop, I can't dance,"_ Bella looked at her with pleading eyes.

Fueled by liquid courage, Rosalie countered with _"you can't dance or don't want to dance?" _

"_No Rosalie, I," _Bella stuttered as she wrapped her arms around Rosalie's waist. _"I want to dance with you, believe me I do." _She looked into Rosalie's eyes seriously, and Rosalie paused. This was the first time that night that they'd really looked at each other; really looked _into_ each other, and Rosalie's breath caught in her throat. No matter what was going on around them, when Bella and Rosalie's eyes met, everything else seemed to freeze. Rosalie bit her own lip and looked down, slightly overwhelmed and suddenly very aware of the smaller girl's arms around her waist.

"_If you want to dance with me, then why don't you? And don't tell me you can't." _She brought her arms around Bella's neck and clasped them from behind, willing the girl to move with her body. Bella tried to keep up, but it soon became painfully clear that she really actually couldn't.

"_You weren't kidding," _Rosalie smirked. Bella nodded, her expression apprehensive. _"Then hold on, little one, because I'm going to have to do all the work myself." _Bella shrieked in surprise as Rosalie reached down and hoisted Bella off her feet and onto her hip. She held Bella firmly by her backside and began to twirl her around as the smaller girl giggled loudly.

"_You're crazy!" _Bella shouted between giggles as Rosalie swayed and dipped her. Rosalie could feel the eyes of the party on the two of them; the jealousy Rosalie aroused in others when she paid _anyone _specific attention was to be expected, but she never really cared.

"_Get it, Bella," _Emmett shouted boisterously as he moved onto the floor. Rosalie bounced her up and down to the beat dramatically, grinning wildly at Bella as the girl laughed and clutched her neck. Emmett came from behind Bella and grabbed her away from Rosalie, hoisting Bella up onto his shoulders in one fluid motion. The crowd cheered and began to clap for Bella, who looked down at Rosalie pleadingly. Rosalie just shrugged and reached back to grab the hips of some girl who she felt pressing up on her from behind. But she never broke Bella's gaze, and she never stopped grinning as Emmett and the crowd yelled for Bella to fist pump.

###

Rosalie made herself scarce before Emmett had a chance to put Bella down, retreating into her bedroom and shutting the door. Her mind was swirling with booze and Bella, and she was just so happy to be near her that she decided that if alcohol was able to quell her fears and bring her to Bella, then she would happily drink Emmett's entire liquor cabinet if she had to. She watched from her window as Alexandra, the girl that desperately wanted Rosalie to herself, cornered Bella by the hot tub and began to yap at her. Rosalie closed her eyes for a second and willed herself to get up and continue to pursue her elusive brunette.

###

Rosalie let the backyard door close gently as she glided over to the table where Alexandra held court with Bella. She watched Alexandra talk animatedly at Bella and wondered to herself what she could be saying. A strong hand grabbed Rosalie's arm and tried to veer her off-course, but she shrugged away and continued to head towards the two girls. When she arrived at the table, Rosalie put both her hands on Bella's shoulders and kept them there. _"Dear God, Gator, do I even want to know what you're telling her?"_ The beautiful model laughed back at Rosalie as she took a seat on the bench next to Bella, and smiled at her knowingly.

"_I was just telling Bella how adorable she looked in her tank top. Modesty is the new black, you know." _Alexandra smirked at Rosalie and Bella, her eyes full of confidence and alcohol. Rosalie wrapped her left arm protectively around Bella as she smirked back.

"_Well then you're certainly not wearing 'the new black' right now, my dear. But nice bikini, you look insanely hot as always."_ Rosalie smiled flirtatiously at Alexandra but kept her arm securely wrapped around Bella.

"_Why do you call her Gator?" _ Bella questioned shyly, examining her hands that lay clasped on the table.

"_Because," _Rosalie replied, releasing her grip on Bella and laying her own hands on the table. _"Alexandra was a dental model before she got her first major campaign." _She winked at the model, who returned the wink.

"_Gator's smile is kind of famous, you know. Big white teeth that could rip your hand off like a gator." _Rosalie yanked at Bella's hand dramatically and pretended to bite it. She dropped it quickly before continuing, _"I like the new tattoo, Gator, was it just for the party or have you done something more serious?" _Rosalie beamed at the girl innocently. Rosalie could feel Bella's thigh tense slightly as the model responded.

"_First, Bella," _the girl responded seductively, speaking to Bella but still keeping her eyes glued to Rosalie. _"My nickname is Gator because it's a common nickname for Alexander or Alexandra in our circles, as Rosalie neglected to tell you." _Rosalie noticed Bella bite her lip and continue to stare at her fingers with renewed intensity as the model continued.

"_Second, Rose, this tattoo is legit and I've gotten a few others that you haven't seen since the last time we were together, although I can't really show you in front of everybody without compromising my virtue." _She winked again at Rosalie seductively, seemingly quite pleased with herself.

"_You've never had a problem with compromising your virtue in the past, Gator. Why now so shy?" _Rosalie smiled during her delivery, but her toned became more dangerous. _"You know that I don't let anyone call me 'Rose,' and you're certainly not one to push your limits, okay?"_

Alexandra seemed to shrink at Rosalie's admonishment, so Rosalie continued. _"But you do look incredibly hot tonight, and I have to tell you that I think this new tattoo is very cool." _Rosalie grabbed the model's hand and examined her wrist, where a freshly inked Latin inscription ran the length of her forearm. Bella was clearly uncomfortable – Rosalie could feel it, and she was about to comfort her when she recognized a very unwelcome guest headed in their direction.

"_Is that Edward?" _Rosalie hissed, looking at Bella.

The brunette shifted her weight uncomfortably as she responded _"Yeah, Edward is here." _Rosalie took in the figure that was headed their way. Edward looked pale and skinny in his poorly chosen yellow t-shirt, and his hair was in a ridiculous Mohawk again. He looked surly and annoyed. The kid was horrible at parties, Rosalie had observed on more than one occasion, and his constant brooding and lurking was borderline ridiculous. Rosalie kept her gaze fixed on Bella as the girl watched her boyfriend head their way.

"_Since when was he invited?" _Rosalie snarked, the alcohol keeping her social filter at bay.

"_He's my boyfriend," _Bella retorted, sounding annoyed. _"Why wouldn't he be invited?" _

"_Whatever, Bella," _Rosalie sneered as she stood up abruptly. _"I'll see you later, have fun, give Edward my best." _Rosalie sauntered off into the crowd, thoroughly disappointed and discouraged by the presence of Bella's boyfriend.

###

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Chapters from Bella's point of view won't happen very often. Hope it doesn't throw anyone off too much. Thanks again for the feedback, it's really awesome. Oh and I own nothing but the story.

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Bella's perspective:

Bella couldn't help but stare as Rosalie left the table. She was upset; that Bella could decipher. But over the presence of Edward? As much as Rosalie had spent the last two weeks tortured, wondering why Bella didn't want her, Bella had also spent those same two weeks quite tortured. But she spent her time wondering why Rosalie Hale had ever wanted her in the first place.

###

The first time she'd seen Rosalie, her stomach had dropped, but wasn't that to be expected? Certainly everyone's stomach's dropped upon meeting Rosalie Hale; she was exquisite. She was so beautiful, so perfect that it was almost painful for Bella to look at her, but judging by the reactions of her sister and her roommate, she was hardly alone.

"_Holy shit!" _ Her sister Leah had exclaimed after the first time Rosalie Hale introduced herself. _"That girl is gorgeous, holy shit!" _Alice had agreed with Leah and mentioned to the group that Rosalie Hale was actually well-known in the fashion world, known not just for her beauty, but also for her coldness and disinterested manner. As Alice spoke, Bella just sat at that table aghast, embarrassed by her body's response to the blond, but comforted by the fact that she clearly wasn't alone.

After hearing the scuttlebutt surrounding Rosalie, Bella expected the girl to be a bitch; she expected her personality to match her uncompromising, unobtainable looks. But in the months that followed, Rosalie had been more than gracious and kind to her new neighbors. Yes, she always seemed a bit distant and preoccupied, but she was gracious none-the-less. She seemed to take a special liking to Alice initially, and Bella couldn't help but secretly resent Alice's job and her chic lifestyle that somehow made her worthy enough to draw Rosalie into her room to discuss silhouettes and design inspiration and a multitude of other concepts that Bella couldn't even pretend to grasp. And concepts she had never cared or wanted to understand until the day she met Rosalie Hale.

After that day, Bella began to envy the fact that she had been left out of the glamorous world that Rosalie Hale seemed to inhabit. She was shocked by Rosalie's interest in her own, boring (as she saw it) life, even if the stunning blonde had expressed it just for the sake of conversation.

###

The day that Rosalie built the chaises, hovering so near to Bella that she thought she would go crazy – that day Bella was finally able to muster enough courage to approach Rosalie on her own; to try to forge a connection with the beauty despite having none of the glamour or sophistication or knowledge of fashion that her roommate Alice possessed.

But Bella had lost a friend that day, and she felt like she had nothing else to lose. She was shell-shocked by Rosalie's compassion and insight into her situation as they lay on the chaises and talked. Rosalie seemed to sincerely empathize with her; it felt like she _actually_ cared.

And as the days progressed after that night, Bella could scarcely believe just how _much_ Rosalie seemed to care. Rosalie would come to her, knocking on her door and seeking her out to spend time together. For what reason, Bella had no idea. She had a hard time wrapping her head around the idea that a girl of Rosalie's caliber would ever want to spend time with her.

###

But as the days progressed, she watched Rosalie do just that; it actually seemed like Rosalie wanted to be with her. And God knows, Bella returned the sentiment. She reveled in the moments they spent together, counting the seconds until she could get home to see Rosalie each night. Bella felt strongly towards her; she wanted her, and not as a friend, Bella knew. She wanted Rosalie to be something more. But she wasn't surprised by her desire; it seemed like _everyone_ wanted that from Rosalie. Bella knew her feelings weren't special. But she began to get this strange feeling that Rosalie felt the same way; that maybe Rosalie wanted her a little bit too.

She couldn't understand it; couldn't understand Rosalie's behavior. But despite her doubts, she found herself unable to resist Rosalie's charms, and she also found herself increasingly able to ignore the nagging voice in her head that told her to stop liking Rosalie that way. Instead, she listened to the other voice; the weaker, but more persistent voice that told her that Rosalie did, in fact, like her too. _That_ way.

That voice told her to push Rosalie; to make a move on her. And that voice only grew louder and louder in Bella's mind. So with a few shots on that day at Coney Island, Bella had finally succumbed to it, and she'd been rewarded with the most intense day of her entire life.

###

And the most intense fear she'd ever known afterwards. Bella never questioned her attraction to Rosalie; although she'd never really liked another girl that same way before, Bella considered Rosalie to be a "one-off"; so beautiful and captivating that she basically transcended gender. It was like Rosalie was another species altogether. So Bella wasn't wracked with doubt over her feelings for another girl – although her staunchly catholic (and yet also divorced) parents would have disapproved of her attraction.

Instead, Bella was wracked with doubt over Rosalie's desire for her. She just couldn't believe that a girl like Rosalie would ever want her. It wasn't that she wasn't pretty; Bella knew she was attractive. She'd never had any trouble getting boyfriends; men always seemed drawn to her, much to the chagrin of her sister, Leah.

Leah did an excellent job of instilling doubt in Bella; she was the master of the subtle put-down. And when it came to Rosalie and the attention she paid Bella, Leah wasn't any different. She dropped snide comments about Rosalie's intentions every time the beautiful blonde knocked on their door; and she let her eyes shrink into disappointed (or jealous) slits every time she watched Rosalie favor Bella. But Bella was sure Leah was jealous; people seemed to always compete for Rosalie's attention, and Bella could see that her sister was no different.

For the most part, she was able to push Leah's snarky comments and dirty looks out of her conscious thoughts. But she couldn't push away her doubts about Rosalie's attentions as easily. Rosalie seemed legitimately interested in her, and not just because of her (as she saw it) lackluster personality. Bella felt Rosalie's eyes rake her body up and down with every chance that she was given. It almost appeared to Bella that Rosalie actually _wanted_ her; that she actually found Bella attractive.

But what did that matter? E_veryone_ that surrounded Rosalie was attractive. And far more cultured and interesting and worthy. So Rosalie's attention confounded her; it made her doubt everything. She figured she must be a game to Rosalie; something to occupy her mind since she'd quit her job.

But it didn't feel like a game.

###

Being with Rosalie felt like something more significant than she could comprehend. It was intense, and consuming, and captivating. Bella's reaction was surprising – it was like Bella's insecurities actually made her cocky with Rosalie instead of insecure; she did the exact opposite of what she felt. Her mouth seemed to spew words before her brain had the chance to register them. Maybe it was to compensate for her fears and doubts; regardless, when Bella was around Rosalie, she acted as if the blonde's feelings didn't really matter to her.

She knew she'd pushed it too far the night of Coney Island when she teased Rosalie about being her girlfriend. She couldn't erase from her memory the change in Rosalie's posture and the look on her face as she absorbed Bella's words. Bella knew even Edward would have pulled back if Bella had teased like that. She regretted it deeply. Even though her light teasing seemed irrelevant, and the pain it inflicted illogical, Bella still somehow understood the ramifications of her words. A small part of her could sense that Rosalie was insecure and scared, possibly just as scared as Bella.

But that night she couldn't stop her words. She had no idea how to respond after that, so she hid. She wanted Rosalie so badly - wanted to touch her and be touched, and talk to her and hear her voice and just _be_ with her – since that night those thoughts had consumed her. Rosalie had disappeared afterwards, and Bella wasn't surprised – she figured that Rosalie was done with her. She should have known better than to treat someone like that so callously. She'd had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she let it pass her by. So Bella had hid.

###

She was more than surprised by Rosalie's attention the day of the party. When Rosalie had walked into the backyard, Bella couldn't help but stare. She looked beautiful; actually, she was sexy to the point of incomprehensibility in her tight black dress and high stilettos.

Bella's stomach did indeed drop when she saw her, and she gulped audibly as her eyes took in Rosalie's seemingly endless legs. Her body was perfect in that dress - _she_ was perfect in that dress, but she'd already been perfect. In Bella's eyes Rosalie was _always_ perfect.

Bella was nervous about seeing her but had been unable to decline Emmett's invitation to the party once the handsome boy told her that Rosalie had requested her. She couldn't help herself; she had to go. But Bella expected nothing. And in return, after what seemed like hours of staring at her in secret, Rosalie had suddenly appeared by Bella's side, drawing her fingers languidly down the small of Bella's back as if nothing had changed. Bella wondered if she'd wished Rosalie into being; if her constant stares had somehow willed Rosalie to her.

###

Her surprise was only heightened when Rosalie began to flirt with her, and as soon as the beautiful blonde's eyes locked on her own and she whispered that Bella was beautiful, all her rational thoughts and fears dissipated. Rosalie dragged her to the dance floor and held her up, and all Bella could feel was bliss.

The feel of Rosalie's hand on her body; more than that, the feel of Rosalie's smile as she gazed at her – it hit her hard. Rosalie allowed her to take the spotlight, and as Emmett hoisted her onto her shoulders, Bella was awestruck. The crowd was chanting to her, and Bella had never been the center of attention a day in her life.

But all she could see was Rosalie, beaming up at her, ignoring the girl that was making advances even though Rosalie _did _grab her hips. But Rosalie was still all Bella cared about; all she saw. And it seemed like all Rosalie could see was her as well. She willed herself, in that moment hoisted high above the crowd on Emmett's shoulders, to be brave. Right then and there, she decided that she would do anything to keep Rosalie's attention, no matter what the cost.

###

In the instant Bella took her eyes off Rosalie, the girl was gone. Emmett carefully helped Bella down to the floor, and muttered something kind about Bella's costume, but she didn't hear it. All she could think about was the captivating blonde that had disappeared. She felt soft, strong hands grasp her, and she prayed that they were Rosalie's, although from the lack of tingling at the contact points she knew that they were not. She sighed in defeat as a gorgeous brunette dragged her over to a spot by the hot tub.

"_I don't know who you are," _the stunning brunette began, _"but you're hot and Rosalie seems to like you, so let's talk." _She smiled at a stunned Bella, but the expression was hardly sincere.

"_Sit" _the girl commanded her, and Bella acquiesced, too focused on Rosalie's whereabouts to pay attention. _"Hey, over here!" _The model snapped her fingers in front of Bella's face, demanding her attention. Bella gulped but said nothing.

"_Yeah, I know," _the brunette began to muse. _"She has that effect on people."_

"_What?" _Bella countered, not expecting the comment. The brunette continued.

"_Rosalie, she has that effect on everyone, you know, tongue-tied, unable to form coherent sentences..." _The girl looked at her pointedly.

"_Oh," _Bella blushed, embarrassed at being caught. _"No she's just my neighbor, I um, have a boyfriend." _

"_Of course you do, sweetheart." _The brunette countered, patronizing Bella with her tone. _"Trust me; it will only get worse if you she fucks you." _

"_Excuse me?" _Bella coughed as she tried to digest the words.

"_Rosalie." _ The girl countered plainly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. _"I'm Alexandra, and I've been after her for years, who are you and what's your deal?" _The girl stared her down, ignoring the fact that Bella was so visibly uncomfortable.

"_I don't know what you're-" _Bella was cut off by a pair of warm hands on her shoulders, and finally the tingling resumed, meaning only one thing: Rosalie was back.

###

"_Dear God Gator, do I even want to know what you're telling her?" _ The seductive voice was like music to Bella's ears, and she relaxed, letting the feeling of Rosalie's skin against her own wash away all other thoughts. She remained this way as the three of them bantered. She tensed when the other girl made suggestive comments, but quickly calmed herself.

But it was hard to look at this girl, Alex, a model and in Bella's eyes so beautiful and so much better than Bella could ever be– it was hard for Bella to look at her and not allow their playful banter remind her that Rosalie could never want her _that_ way, not when competition like this was around.

Bella sighed sadly, so frustrated with the push and pull of emotions that wracked her body endlessly. Her hope for Rosalie was gone again, despite Rosalie's continued contact. Until Rosalie saw Bella's boyfriend.

"_Is that Edward?" _Rosalie questioned, her tone undecipherable to Bella, who had been lost in her own thoughts. But as Bella responded that 'yes it was', Rosalie's tone became as clear to Bella as the sky above them.

"_Since when was he invited?" _The gorgeous blond hissed, her displeasure so apparent that even Alexandra raised an eyebrow. Rosalie stiffened and pulled away from Bella, barely acknowledging Bella's response as she huffed a nasty "_whatever Bella"_ and slinked away.

###

Bella was astounded. Rosalie was so clearly upset by Edward's presence; _jealous_ even, that Bella couldn't deny the reaction. She was ecstatic. Rosalie Hale was jealous of Bella's boyfriend! Rosalie Hale was jealous of her! Rosalie wanted her! Bella's mind raced. Rose was pissed that Bella's boyfriend was there! And she didn't even bother to hide it!

Edward joined his girlfriend at the table and introduced himself to Alexandra, who responded indifferently. He said something to Bella, but she didn't hear. She didn't care anymore; she needed to go after Rosalie. The beautiful blonde's reaction had been enough motivation, and Bella could no longer focus on anything else. She collected her thoughts quickly, resolving herself to pick a fight with Edward and send him home as fast as she could. She ignored Alexandra as the girl continued to yap about how much she wanted Rosalie, and she turned to face Edward.

"_I want you to leave." _She said quietly, but in a voice laden with steel.

"_What?" _He looked at her with questioning, desperate eyes, but Bella didn't care.

"_Just go, Edward, just shut up and go, you're driving me crazy and I'm sick of you." _Bella's request was unprovoked and uncalled for, and she knew it, but the hurt that spread across Edward's featured left her strangely unmoved.

"_Fine," _He spat out in a huff, trying to be as dramatic as possible as he slammed his solo cup on the ground. _"You're so fucking moody, Bella, I don't know why I bother." _

"_Then stop bothering,_" Bella responded coldly as her eyes continued to search for Rosalie. She ignored the boy as he left in a huff, and stood up to find her girl. She couldn't think; she didn't care anymore. She just wanted Rosalie; she just needed to touch her, to feel her. She spied the stunning blond chatting with a handsome, muscled man, and took a deep breath as she steeled herself to move forward.

###

Bella interrupted Rosalie's conversation awkwardly, blurting _"Rose, I need you" _before she was able to consider using words that might be more appropriate for the situation. Rosalie raised a perfectly arched brow at her, and turned back to face the shirtless man. Bella felt sick to her stomach, knowing that surely Rosalie wouldn't bother with her anymore, not with all that was clearly available to the beautiful blonde. She turned to go, but felt a strong, smooth hand on her arm.

"_Hang on, Bella," _she commanded. Bella watched as Rosalie placed her free hand on the man's chest and pushed him away playfully. _"Gotta run, Sam!" _Bella cringed at Rosalie's flirtatious tone. The man, Sam, started to protest, but Rosalie just silenced him with a wave of her hand. _"Got a better offer!" _Rosalie deadpanned, and whipped around to face Bella, a shit-eating grin plastered to her face. She winked at her and began to lead her away from the crowd.

But Bella's tormented expression seemed to startle her, and Bella sighed as the taller girl immediately stopped and grabbed Bella by the shoulders, pulling her close. _"Bella, what is it?" _She questioned her sincerely as her eyes searched for any kind of indication as to what might be wrong with the smaller girl. Bella's turmoil must have been easily readable, because concern immediately overtook Rosalie's delicate features as she began to rub her shoulders.

"_Rose," _Bella began, unable to think of what to say next. The distractions of partiers carousing all around the two of them made her dizzy. She hated this; hated seeing Rosalie like this – so beautiful, so admired, so wanted. Why would Rosalie ever want to be with someone like her? She had everything; she could have anyone. Bella couldn't think of a single thing she could offer Rosalie. She felt her eyes begin to well with tears, and she broke Rosalie's gaze to stare at the ground.

"_Bella, stop, look at me." _Bella only shook her head.

"_Come on," _Rosalie pushed, _"look at me." That's all I ever do,_ Bella thought to herself as she felt tears begin to run hot down her cheeks.

"_I'll flash you my boobs if you look up…" _Bella chuckled in spite of herself, and Rosalie took the opportunity to capture her face and force it up.

"_Bella, I know I'm pretty drunk, so I apologize in advance for my bad judgment, but I'm going to keep your beautiful little head in my vice-like grip until you tell me what's wrong." _She smirked at Bella and squeezed. Bella knew the blonde was trying to cheer her up, and it gave her a tiny rush of relief.

"_Oww, Rose, your man hands are squeezing my brains out!" _Rosalie threw her head back in laughter, and loosened her grip. She put her arms back around Bella's waist and again drew her close, despite the fact that she was surrounded by friends and on full display. It seemed to Bella that girl didn't really care or even notice.

"_Rosalie," _Bella questioned, _"why didn't you tell me that no one ever called you Rose; I had no idea you hated it but-" _

"_You're right, Bella, no one ever calls me Rose." _Rosalie continued to smile warmly, and she brought her hands forward to tug on the hem of Bella's tank top flirtatiously. _"No one is allowed to call me Rose." _

"_Oh," _Bella said quietly, again looking down, but a finger poking her rib cage snapped her head back up. Rosalie was smirking at her mischievously.

She poked her finger deeper into Bella's ribs as she countered _"No one except you, Bella." _Before Bella could respond, Rosalie scooped her up wedding-style and carried her over to a chair, placing her down gently as the smaller girl giggled.

"_So now are you going to tell me what's wrong?" _Rosalie was definitely drunk; but Bella hadn't exactly avoided drinking either that night, and Rosalie's flirtatious behavior was giving her enough courage to push herself. Rosalie leaned seductively over Bella's chair, both lean, toned arms supporting the gorgeous girl as she hovered over her.

In this light, Rosalie's eyes looked so impossibly green and bright that Bella had to muffle a gasp. Rosalie continued to smirk, but her expression faded as she watched Bella's expression. Bella wiped a few leftover tears from her eyes in an obvious manner, and tried to look as sad as she could. She needed to get Rosalie alone; she wanted see Rosalie concerned for her, focused only on her. So she fell back on her old-standby; playing the sick card.

"_Rose, I don't feel well, I think I might be sick." _It was a complete lie and Rosalie had to have known it; Bella was plenty of drinks into the night, but it was still far too early for that kind of behavior. And she'd been laughing and giggling with Rosalie not seconds earlier. But if Rosalie didn't believe her, she more than willingly played along.

###

Rosalie guided Bella through the crowd and towards her own apartment expertly, muttering _"shhs"_ and _"its okays" _into Bella's ear the whole time. Bella kept her face down to hide the tiny smile that had formed; Rosalie's attention was completely focused on her, and she was elated and excited.

She let Rosalie push her into her bathroom and shut the door. Bella raked her eyes over Rosalie as the slender blond leaned back against the pedestal sink, stretching leanly muscled arms and endless legs out in the process. _God she's gorgeous_ Bella thought to herself as she gulped, self-doubt once again invading her mind as she fell back on wondering why this beautiful creature would ever be interested in her. She stalled, playing with her own hands and staring at the shower behind Rosalie. Rosalie must have noticed the tension on her face, because she reached out and pulled the smaller girl towards her. Her deep green eyes were lidded, and she leaned in slowly to kiss Bella softly on the cheek.

Bella was instantly awash with relief that Rosalie still wanted her; that she was still in this bathroom, playing along even though it was painfully obvious that Bella felt absolutely fine. She looked down at the space at her waist where her body met Rosalie's and sighed. Rosalie wrapped one arm tightly around the small brunette's back and pulled her even closer. She lifted her chin with a slender index finger. _"Bella, what's wrong?" _She questioned again, her voice truly filled with genuine worry.

"_I," _Bella began, stuttering as she searched for words. Rosalie was being so tender with her; so gentle. She was nothing like the Rosalie Hale that Bella had watched work the party that day. Bella couldn't think of anything to say to the blonde.

"_I got rid of Edward!" _She blurted out without thinking, and mentally cursed herself for sounding so stupid. She looked into Rosalie's eyes, searching for some kind of comfort. But Rosalie suddenly looked indifferent – cold, actually. Her finger, however, remained on Bella's chin and her she continued to hold her close.

"_So?" _Rosalie retorted icily. _"Why the fuck should I care?" _Her tone was nasty but Bella swore she could hear pain in it as well. She hoped desperately that the pain she sensed was real and not some product of her own desire. She bit her lip and willed herself to push forward.

Rosalie's gaze was cold but unwavering – her green eyes bore deeply into Bella's own, and it was hard for the smaller girl to not to be paralyzed by the intensity of feeling that look aroused in her. Rosalie was frightening her; her eyes were cold, and hard, and completely unreadable. But she still held Bella, and Bella felt that maybe that was enough of a reason to continue.

"_So," _Bella continued bravely, keeping her eyes fixed on Rosalie's. _"I'm sorry but I, um," _Bella paused again, stuttering as she watched Rosalie's expression remain indifferent.

"_I couldn't be around him anymore. Not with you here. After the beach, it's just too hard." _Bella hoped that her admition was enough, but Rosalie's expression didn't change.

"_Why, Bella?" _She questioned icily. But the hurt in her voice was undeniable – Bella was sure of it this time. _"Why is it too hard?" _Rosalie wasn't going to let her off easily; this much Bella could tell. But she didn't care – even Rosalie's stone-cold expression couldn't stop her.

"_Because I want you." _Bella spoke clearly and with a sudden confidence that came from some place foreign. _"And when you're around, nothing else matters to me anymore." _Bella gasped at her own words, and averted her eyes immediately, terrified of how the beautiful blonde would react.

###

But when she felt smooth fingertips running through her hair, and she felt warm breath puffing on her lips, Bella was no longer afraid.

"_I want you too," _Rosalie whispered back before their lips met, and the rush of adrenaline that coursed through Bella's veins was like nothing she'd ever felt in her life or imagined she could possibly ever feel again. It was like lightening ran through her. _"I want you too," _Rosalie repeated as she closed the distance. And finally, Bella's lips connected with the ones that she knew she could never go another day without.

###

Sharp knocking on the bathroom door interrupted their kiss before it had barely begun, and Bella could hear Rosalie's brother yelling at them to open up. She jumped back just as the door flew open, and Emmett practically knocked them over as he dragged a very drunk, topless girl behind him.

"_Um, Em?" _ Rosalie looked more than annoyed as she spoke. _"Where is her top?"_

"_Lost it in the hot tub." _He responded gruffly as he hauled the girl up and over the toilet. _"Almost lost her lunch, too."_

Rosalie and Bella both cringed as the girl began to retch.

"_Well I guess it's not really a Jersey Shore party until someone yaks in the hot tub," _Rosalie quipped and Emmett chuckled, but Bella wasn't able to laugh, currently distracted by a smooth hand that was sneaking up under the back of her tank top, tracing circles as it made its way up to the strings off her bikini. All Bella could do was shudder, and before Rosalie had time to say anything else to her brother, Bella grabbed her hand and yanked them into the closest bedroom.

"_Bella –" _Rosalie started to speak but was cut off as Bella slammed the door shut and pushed her back against it, kissing her fiercely. Rosalie reciprocated with equal intensity, and Bella felt like her skin was on fire as Rosalie's hands roamed under her shirt. Bella broke the kiss and latched on to Rosalie's neck, sucking hard and she pushed her body into Rosalie's. Rosalie moaned as Bella bit the soft patch of skin roughly, quickly soothing it with her tongue and then latching back on.

"_Bella," _Rosalie panted as the girl ran her hands up to Rosalie's perfect breasts and began to knead. _'Oh my God," _Rosalie moaned, _"Bella this is Jasper's room, mmmm, oh my God Bella we have to go."_ The sense of urgency in Bella's mind almost overpowered Rosalie's logic – she had to have her, no matter where.

Without thinking, she broke away and opened the door, tugging Rosalie through it and over to the front door. _"Do you have the spare keys to my apartment?" _ Bella questioned breathlessly, not interested in taking the time to pull Rosalie all the way out through their backyards and into her own apartment.

"_Yeah,"_ Rosalie rasped as she fumbled through a silver bowl in the front hall for the right keys.

"_Fuck!" _She cursed as she struggled through the mess of keys and change to find the right ones. Bella knew it was a risk, but she couldn't think clearly, so she reached around Rosalie from behind and brought her hands back up to Rosalie's breasts. They felt so perfect under her palms; _Rosalie_ felt so perfect. Bella breathed in her scent as Rosalie dumped the bowl onto the floor, quickly breaking Bella's hold as she bent down and grabbed the key.

"_Is that it?" _Bella huffed, desperate to get the beautiful girl to her own room. Rosalie didn't respond, instead she wrenched open the front door and took off down the hall. Bella chased her, pushing into her again as Rosalie worked the keys into the lock on Bella's apartment door. Bella leaned up and smashed her lips against Rosalie's; her tongue eagerly meeting the blonde's as she kissed her roughly. Every time their tongues met, Bella felt like she was going to collapse, and as Rosalie kissed her back hard and deep, Bella's knees buckled. Rosalie barely caught her before she hit the floor.

"_Inside," _Rosalie husked and Bella pulled her backwards into her apartment and directly into her bedroom. She pushed Rosalie down onto the bed with all of her might and turned to close and lock her door.

When she was sure it was tightly secured, she looked over at Rosalie. Her golden legs hung over the edge of the bed, and they seemed to go on for miles before they reached the hem of the tiny dress. Bella could see some kind of pink lace underneath, and the sight actually made her moan. She had never been so desperate for anyone in her entire life.

Rosalie had propped herself up on her arms, so Bella had a full view of her perfect breasts as Rosalie's chest heaved up and down. Her blond hair trailed down past her shoulders in wild wisps, and she looked at Bella with what Bella was sure was lust. Her pink lips were swollen and glossy from kissing, and her eyes were dark.

Bella marveled at the sight of this perfect creature in front of her, and as her eyes ran back down past her breasts to her petite waist, Bella couldn't help but run over and grab Rosalie by it, placing her own small hands on either side of Rosalie's waist and pulling it up into her own body as she collapsed on top of her.

Rosalie let herself fall onto her back as she snaked her hands into Bella's hair and pulled the smaller girl towards her fiercely. Bella kissed her deeply, but the contact wasn't enough. Bella felt like a woman possessed. She sat up and ripped her own tank top off, and then reached down to pull Rosalie's dress up and over her head.

She barely had time to take in the body beneath her before Rosalie yanked her back down and rolled her over, pining Bella's arms at her sides as their lips met. Bella moaned deeply as Rosalie rolled her body into her like a snake, thrusting her tongue with extra force each time she pushed her pelvis into the smaller girl. Bella struggled to free her hands and brought them to Rosalie's ass, pulling her desperately closer to get more contact at her center.

Rosalie seemed content to just kiss her, but after a few minutes Bella couldn't wait any longer, and she flipped them over again and sat up, shedding her bikini top as she ground her hips down on Rosalie. She was so aroused that she was spinning. Or maybe it was the liquor, because Bella definitely felt like she was spinning, but she didn't care, letting herself fall on top of Rosalie.

Their lips met again, but Bella had other intentions, grabbing Rosalie's hand and forcing it to her breast. Rosalie began to palm it, and Bella felt her own wetness seep through her bikini as she gasped. She propped herself up on one arm and brought her free hand right down to Rosalie's panties, shoving her fingers under the fabric and dragging them up Rosalie's slit. It was a new sensation for Bella; she'd never been with a girl before, but it felt so amazing that she wasn't sure if anything else would ever measure up.

Rosalie gasped as Bella's fingers ran over her clit, but instead of continuing, she shot up, nearly knocking Bella over. Bella was confused – she reached for Rosalie again and tried to pull her close, but Rosalie stiffened. Unaffected, Bella reached out for her panties again, but Rosalie caught her by the wrist. _"Whoa," _she panted, _"hold on a second Bella." _

"_No" _Bella husked as she tackled Rosalie to the bed and kissed her sloppily. Rosalie returned the kiss briefly but then turned her head, so Bella brought a hand to her lace covered breast and began to knead it desperately.

"_Bella stop," _Rosalie husked, but Bella ignored her. She had to have this; her inhibitions were gone and she felt like she was on fire. She brought her hand back down to Rosalie's panties and tried to pull them off.

Rosalie pushed her off and sat up, and Bella, feeling confused, reached for them again. _"Whoa, down boy." _ Rosalie chuckled as she tried to catch her breath. Bella was stunned. Did Rosalie not want this? Did she not want her?

"_Bella," _Rosalie spoke softly, still panting but clearly trying to calm herself down. _"We have to stop." _Bella felt the rejection like a knife to her heart, and her tears immediately began to fall.

"_Don't you want me?" _She pleaded, her eyes full of pain. Rosalie immediately came forward and cupped her cheeks.

"_Oh my God yes Bella, of course I want you." _Bella continued to cry freely.

"_Then what's wrong?" _She sobbed. _"What did I do wrong?" _

"_Nothing," _Rosalie soothed, _"you did nothing wrong." _She leaned in and kissed Bella softly. _"But Bella, I'm totally drunk right now. I mean, like, the room is spinning and I can barely stand up drunk. And I don't want to be with you like this." _

"_You don't look drunk," _Bella muttered despondently. Rosalie fell back onto the bed, but before Bella could say anything, Rosalie hiccupped.

###

"_Oh mother fuck," _Rosalie exclaimed, _"I HATE hic- the hic- hiccups!" _The furious look on her face was priceless, and Bella burst into a fit of giggles. Rosalie hiccupping was the funniest thing she'd ever seen in her life. She rolled around on the bed, laughing hysterically.

"_Bell- hic- Bella," _Rosalie struggled to speak as her abdominals spasmed. _"You just –hic- went from sob –hic- sobbing to laughing like-hic- a crazy person in un –hic- under like 30 seconds, -hic-, I think you're pre –hic- pretty drunk too." _Bella rolled over and lay on her stomach, facing Rosalie as the beautiful blond continued to hiccup.

"_Oh my God Rosalie," _Bella giggled, _"I can see all your little abs flexing every time you hiccup." _She continued to crack her up as she played with the muscles on Rosalie's bare stomach.

"_Aww Rosalie look at them, they're so cute," _Bella danced her fingers over the taught skin as the muscles jumped with each hiccup.

"_Rose," _she began to laugh crazily again, _"Rose!" _Bella was gleeful; this was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. _"Rose look!" _She shouted as she watched the muscles dance, and then she furrowed her brow, looking at the blond seriously. _"I think they're trying to escape," _Bella said solemnly.

Bella watched as Rosalie broke out in laughter; she already couldn't remember what the beautiful blonde was laughing at. _"Rose, your abs are trying to escape, I'm worried that I might have a serious medical crisis on my hands." _Rosalie laughed even harder. Bella looked up at her, confused.

"_Oh my God you're serious, aren't you?" _Rosalie clutched her stomach, shaking with giggles as tears ran down her cheeks. Bella tried to get up to move closer to Rosalie, but the room suddenly tipped sideways and she fell over.

"_Ugh Rose what did the room just do that for, I'm trying to help you here…" _Rosalie was laughing so hard now that she was clutching her sides desperately, and suddenly Bella couldn't remember what she had been worried about, and she started to laugh again as well.

She got up again to try to move closer to her beautiful blonde, but this time the room dipped forward, and instead she fell right on top of her. Everything was spinning. Bella sighed as she buried her nose in Rosalie's neck. _"God Rose you smell sooooo good, but you have to stop the room from moving." _She poked Rosalie in the stomach to drive her point home, and Rosalie yelped and giggled harder.

"_Just hold on to me, okay Rosalie, otherwise I think the room is going to tip us over, I'm serious." _Bella closed her eyes and focused on the soft scent that filled her nostrils instead of the spinning feeling in her head. Rosalie curled herself around Bella and pulled her in tightly. Bella heard her sigh as she snuggled into Rosalie's body.

"_Don't let go Rose, okay?" _She exhaled deeply.

"_Okay Bella," _she heard Rosalie's beautiful voice; _God, it was a beautiful voice,_ Bella thought to herself. As she began to drift off the sleep, she could still hear that perfect voice in her head. She decided that tomorrow she would make Rosalie read the phonebook into a voice recorder so that she could play it before she went to sleep. She was sure Rosalie wouldn't mind.

###

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry if this rambles a bit – I tend to only write stuff like this after a few drinks, and the following chapter is no exception. Thanks so much for the reviews – they keep me going with this story.

###

Rosalie's perspective:

Rosalie woke up slowly, a thudding pain behind her eyes preventing her from wanting to open them. She began to turn, but something heavy and soft on top of her kept her held in place. She felt smooth skin against her own, and shivered as soft puffs of air hit her neck.

_Oh shit,_ she thought to herself, _what the fuck did I do? _The weight above her shifted slightly, and she felt the hardened bud of what was surely a nipple pressing on her skin. _Great, there's a naked girl on top of me, just great. _Rosalie groaned inwardly at her own stupidity – she'd let herself get completely out of control at the party the night before.

She felt soft hair tickling her, and she gently freed the arm that had been holding the sleeping girl tightly so that she could inspect the damage. Still unwilling to open her eyes, Rosalie ran her hand down the side of her torso and to her legs.

_Well at least my underwear is still on, that's a good sign,_ she mused. With a deep breath, Rosalie forced her eyes open.

Bright lights shone back at her, and she squinted. The pounding in her head had increased ten-fold with the addition of artificial light, but she'd expected this. She looked around the room curiously, until the recognition hit her.

She shot up in bed, knocking the sleeping girl off of her.

_Holy shit, I'm in Bella's room! _Her stomach dropped at the realization.

She looked over at the girl, willing her to still be asleep. Indeed she was, and indeed, it was Bella. A topless, nearly naked Bella.

Rosalie let her eyes roam, taking in the object of her desire. Bella's body was beautiful; more so than Rosalie had imagined. She was slender and smooth, and her creamy skin looked touchably soft. She wasn't tightly toned like Rosalie, but Rosalie liked her this way more. Bella was just slim, and soft, and perfect. Her breasts were small, but not too small – just enough.

Rosalie shuddered as she watched Bella's chest rise and fall. She couldn't take her eyes off the smaller girl's nipples – they were like perfect little rosebuds. Despite the incredible pressure in her head, Rosalie couldn't stifle the moan that escaped her own swollen lips as she pictured taking one of Bella's perfect nipples into her mouth.

_God I've got to get the fuck out of here,_ she mused. She didn't have time to figure out what had transpired the previous night – she just knew that she had to make her escape as quietly as possible. She fished her dress out from between two pillows, and shimmied it on as she dimmed the lights. She then gently pulled a coverlet up over the beautiful girl, and allowed herself one last look before she shut the door behind her gently.

###

When she got back to her own room, she realized that it was about five o'clock in the morning. Rosalie pulled her dress over her head and tossed it into a corner. She ran to the kitchen, clad in only her bra and underwear, to grab a Gatorade, and she nearly ate carpet as she tripping over some guest from the previous night's festivities that had clearly decided that her oriental rug looked like a nice place to crash. Rosalie rolled her eyes, more annoyed with herself than any drunken party guest, and retreated back to her room.

She lay on top of the fluffy duvet, willing her hung-over mind to recall her actions. The night came back to her quickly – the cheers, the dancing, Bella's stares, her anger with Bella when she saw Bella's boyfriend.

_Oh God, Bella's boyfriend._ Rosalie smacked herself on the forehead and cursed aloud. She'd made a total fool of herself in front of Bella because of Edward. She'd let the booze take over, and had decided in her inebriated state that it would be perfectly okay to let Bella know how displeased she was with his presence.

Rosalie had broken one of her most important rules; never let anyone know that you're jealous. Because then they'll know you're weak. Because jealousy means you care. And now Bella knew how much Rosalie cared; she knew how much Rosalie hated the fact that Bella had a boyfriend. She cringed. She couldn't have possibly made herself look any more vulnerable to the girl. Now Bella could hold it over her head, and look at her apologetically when she mentioned his name, and treat her gently whenever he was around.

_Shit, _Rosalie mused. _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. _She quickly grabbed a xanex and popped it, willing a drug induced coma to overtake her before she could agonize about her mistakes any further.

###

When she awoke at around noon, she could hear the rest of the apartment beginning to stir. She flew into the shower and scrubbed her long blond locks with extra vigor as she worried and stressed over what had happened with Bella.

She knew Bella wanted to be with her now, and that _was_ a good thing. But she'd acted like a jealous teenager, and _that_ was a bad thing. For Rosalie - proud, calculating, vulnerable, frightened Rosalie - giving her feelings away like that felt like a _very_ bad thing.

As she and Emmett cleaned up the backyard, she wasn't worried about seeing Bella. Because this was Sunday; her day with Edward. Her boyfriend. And of course, Bella was nowhere to be found.

"_I guess last night's break-up didn't last very long," _Rosalie muttered under her breath. The thought of Bella with anyone else made her sick, so much so that she forced her mind not to picture what they must look like together. Rosalie wasn't going to give up on Bella; after last night, she had no intention of doing so.

But as she and Emmett collected empty cans and wiped down furniture, she vowed that she would never again let Bella know how much her boyfriend bothered her. She'd never, ever act like it mattered to her. No matter what.

###

Rosalie managed to avoid Bella the following day, and again on Tuesday; busying herself with parties and social occasions. She missed her, and wanted to see her again, but she was afraid. She wasn't sure what Bella would say. The situation was totally out of her control for the moment, so Rosalie did what she did best – she hid.

On Wednesday evening, she took a quick shower and fixed her hair, and was just sliding on a tight navy cocktail dress when she heard a loud knock at her backdoor. Without thinking, she walked over, and saw Bella through the glass. Her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't hide now; Bella had already seen her. So she mouthed "hang on" to Bella and ran to grab her heels, hoping that she could quickly evade the girl under the guise of being late for a party (which she actually was.)

###

She triple checked her make-up in the mirror and headed for the back door. Through the window she saw Bella waiting patiently, looking casually adorable in a grey cashmere hoodie that Rosalie had lent her and skinny dark denim jeans.

_Casually adorable? _Rosalie chided herself. _Who says that? _She took a deep breath and grasped the doorknob, opening it slowly and flashing Bella her biggest smile.

"_Hey Bella," _she greeted her, _"I'm just headed out to a party."_

"_Wow Rose, you look stunning." _Bella smiled at her nervously and fiddled with the hem of her sweater.

"_Thanks, sorry to run but I'm really late-" _Bella reached out and grabbed Rosalie's hand before she could close the door.

"_Don't pull away from me, Rose, not after the other night." _Rosalie was shocked by her candor, and rendered momentarily speechless.

"_Yeah, about that night," _Rosalie started. _"Bella I'm so sorry for the way I behaved, I was completely drunk and totally out-of-line."_

"_I don't know what you're talking about, Rosalie." _Bella looked her square in the eye, but her expression was unreadable. _"That night was amazing – I'm the one that should be apologizing to you for getting so drunk."_

"_You never have to apologize to me for that, Bella," _Rosalie smirked, her confidence returning somewhat. _"I like you drunk."_

"_Can I come in?" _Bella questioned, ignoring Rosalie's attempt to lighten the mood.

"_Um sure but Bella I really have to run, I'm going to be la-"_

"_Don't go." _Bella cut her off.

"_Sorry but I kind of have to, I'm co-chairing the committee that's throwing the party." _Rosalie smiled apologetically and made a move to turn away, but Bella grasped her hand even tighter and moved inside.

"_Don't go, Rose, please?" _She looked fragile but determined, and it was hard for Rosalie not to kiss her as she felt the electricity from Bella's touch running up her arm.

"_Just stay with me, ok? Do it for me?" _Rosalie sighed, fiddling nervously with the strap of her dress. Saying no to Bella was _not_ easy.

Bella looked determined; her eyes weren't pleading, they were more like _demanding_, and this made Rosalie uncomfortable. But she willed herself to buck up, and after a few moments of silence, she let out a rather dramatic sigh.

"_Okay, okay, I'll stay." _She acquiesced, and followed curiously as Bella walked straight into her room.

As soon as they were inside, Bella shut the door and locked it. She then walked over to the curtains on Rosalie's window and pulled them closed.

"_Um, Bella?" _Rosalie questioned uncertainly. _"Are you planning to kill me or something?"_

_###_

"_Sit down, Rose." _Bella sat on the edge of the bed as she commanded Rosalie to do the same.

"_No thanks, I'd rather stand." _Rosalie snapped. She had definitely tensed up. She didn't like taking orders from people. _"What's this about?"_

"_Rose, the other night in my room, I was all over you, I know that," _Bella started and Rosalie watched her nervously, completely confused. _"And I know that I tried to sleep with you."_

"_Bella, that's fine, you were drunk, I was drunk, it was no big-" _

"_No," _Bella cut Rosalie off. _"It was a big deal." _Rosalie leaned back against her dresser and crossed her legs, looking unintentionally sexy. Bella's eyes raked her body before the smaller girl realized what she was doing. She quickly brought her eyes back to Rosalie's and continued.

"_It was a really big deal to me. I know about you, Rose, I know a lot more about you than I let on. I know how you are with people. You're cold, and aloof, and you use people for sex, and you withhold your emotions…" _Rosalie cringed inwardly but covered it with an icy glare. She did _not_ like where this conversation was headed.

"_Bella, I don't know what your point is," _She said coldly, _"But if you are here to berate me then please, by all means, let me show you to the door." _

"_Wait," _Bella exclaimed as Rosalie pushed herself off the dresser, getting ready to leave. _"Rose let me finish. I know you're supposedly all of those things, I get it. But you're not like that with me. Not ever. And I don't know what on earth has made me so special that you've chosen to treat me differently, but whatever it is, I'm glad for it." _Bella paused, taking a deep breath. Rosalie froze. Her gaze softened somewhat, but she didn't move or make an effort to speak.

"_The other night, I basically threw myself at you. I acted like every other girl you've probably ever been with. But you wouldn't let me. You stopped me before I could do anything stupid." _Bella bit her lower lip nervously as she continued:

"_And you held me while I slept." _Rosalie stayed motionless, unsure of what to make of Bella's words. Bella got up from the bed and walked over to stand in front of Rosalie.

"_Rose, I can't live another day without touching you. I know that sounds ridiculous and dramatic, but it's true. If there's a chance that you want me even one hundredth as much as I want you, then please?"_ Bella brought her hands out to hold Rosalie's and she rubbed them with her thumbs.

Rosalie was utterly shocked, and now as her skin touched Bella's, she was also awash with desire. Bella couldn't look at Rosalie as she uttered her next sentence. _"Please, if you want me even the tiniest bit, please, please, don't wait any longer. Because I'm not sure if I can stand it."_

_###_

Bella continued to stare at their joined hands, unwilling to meet her gaze. Rosalie silently brought those hands up to her mouth and pressed her lips to them. The contact caused Bella to finally meet her eyes, and Rosalie smiled at her softly.

Rosalie kissed the back of each finger as the two beautiful girls took each other in. Wordlessly, Rosalie led Bella over to her bed and sat her down. She got onto her knees and took the button of Bella's jeans into her hands, unbuttoning effortlessly and pulling the zipper down slowly as she kept her eyes trained on Bella's.

She held the gaze as she slowly ran her hands down her legs, first her right, then her left, pulling the jeans off gently. She leaned in and kissed each of her kneecaps, and then stood, grabbing Bella's hands and pulling her up as well.

She placed Bella's hands behind her own back and directed them to pull the zipper of her dress down. Bella held her breath as she slowly dragged the metal down Rosalie's back, and Rosalie gasped when Bella's cool fingers made contact with the soft skin of her lower back.

She covered Bella's hands with her own as she guided them down her sides, sliding the dress off of her body and onto the floor. Bella continued to stare at her as she stepped out of the dress, her eyes darkened but nervous as she took in the blonde, clad now in only black lace boy shorts and matching bra. Rosalie could feel Bella's hands shaking.

"_Its okay," _she breathed. She reversed their hands so that Bella's were now covering hers, and she reached up and pulled the zipper on Bella's sweater down. She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Bella's collarbone, before running her hands up Bella's sides and then down her arms, shedding the soft sweater from them to reveal a simple white cotton bra.

They both stood now, clothed in only their bras and panties, and Bella shivered. Rosalie held her hands and turned them so her own back was to the bed. She sat down slowly on the edge of it, watching Bella closely for any sign of objection.

Bella seemed transfixed, and she let Rosalie guide her down onto the soft white sheets. Rosalie scooted back until she sat in the center of the bed, pulling Bella with one hand as the girl crawled after her. Rosalie lay down slowly, and Bella did the same, lying awkwardly next to her.

###

The room was silent except for the sound of their breathing. Rosalie shifted to her left side so that she could face Bella, and stroked the contour of Bella's stomach as she encouraged her to do the same. As they lay facing each other, Rosalie tucked a lone wisp of auburn hair behind the smaller girl's ear, and ran her fingers teasingly slowly down her arm to catch her hand. She guided it over to her own waist, encouraging Bella to hold her there. Bella looked so nervous and vulnerable.

"_Bella," _Rosalie breathed, their faces only inches apart. _"I'm going to go really slowly, okay? You can stop me whenever you want." _The brunette nodded.

"_Why are you going so slowly, Rosalie?" _She whispered almost inaudibly.

"_Because I want this to be special for you." _Rosalie leaned in closer, bringing their bodies together. Her lips were only millimeters away as she uttered _"I want to show you that you're not like everyone else. Because you're not," _She paused, Bella's warm breath teasing her lips as she struggled to finish her sentence. _"You're like nothing I've ever known in my life." _ With those final words, their lips met, and Bella gasped as Rosalie pulled her hips in tightly.

Their tongues moved slowly against each other as Rosalie trailed her fingers all over Bella's soft body. Bella mimicked her actions, and the trail of fire she left with each inch of skin she touched made it almost impossible for Rosalie to maintain her deliberate pace.

Every cell in her body wanted to grab the smaller girl and attack her. She longed to be inside of her, and shivered as she imagined the feel of Bella's center as it clenched around her fingers. But she resisted her urges, and kept her pace, only rolling Bella onto her back after they'd kissed for at least fifteen minutes.

Bella groaned as Rosalie deepened the kiss, pushing her tongue deep into Bella's waiting mouth as she rocked her hips into the brunette's. Bella kissed back with the same intensity, and Rosalie couldn't imagine how it was possible but Bella seemed to kiss her even better than she'd remembered.

Their tongues rubbed together sensually as Rosalie kissed her harder and harder. She reached behind Bella's back to the clasp of her bra, but broke the kiss to meet Bella's eyes, silently asking her permission. Bella nodded, and Rosalie flicked the clasp easily.

She held herself up to admire the body beneath her, before leaning down and capturing a nipple between her lips. Bella groaned, much louder than Rosalie had expected as the blond sucked her nipple, gently at first but then harder as she let her tongue flick across the tip.

Her other hand was busy palming Bella's free breast, and as she pinched the nipple lightly Bella jerked and arched her back. _"Shit!" _She exclaimed, immediately digging her fingers into Rosalie's scalp and urging her on.

After a few more moments of teasing and sucking, Rosalie couldn't restrain herself any longer. She spread Bella's legs with her knee and filled the space with her slender thigh. She gasped when she felt the slick heat through Bella's panties. Rosalie realized that the girl might not need as much prepping as she'd initially thought.

She switched her mouth to Bella's other nipple and sucked hard as she ran her tongue around the tip in circles. Bella clawed at Rosalie's scalp as Rosalie flexed her thigh and pushed it into Bella's wetness.

"_Rose," _Bella panted, _"take your bra off, I want to feel you." _Rosalie sat up, straddling Bella's leg and continuing to knead one breast while she snapped her bra off with her free hand.

Bella looked up in awe, and then pushed herself up to take Rosalie's nipple into her mouth.

"_Bella, you don't have to- oh God…" _Rosalie's thoughts escaped her as she felt Bella's fingers suddenly rubbing her clit through her panties. Bella sat up fully and took Rosalie's breast deeper into her mouth as she pulled Rosalie towards her with a deceptively strong hand on her back.

Rosalie could barely keep her eyes open as Bella's other hand rubbed harder on her clit. She felt Bella's fingers sneak up and inside the fabric, and she threw her head back as two fingers came in direct contact with her swollen bud.

Rosalie often fucked people, but she _rarely_ let them fuck her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd let someone touch her there. Bella moaned as she continued to suckle at her breast, clearly aroused by her own ministrations. Rosalie already felt like she was close to coming, and they'd barely started.

She used her strong body to push Bella back down to the bed and Bella huffed as her lips lost contact with Rosalie's breast. Rosalie leaned in and kissed Bella desperately, their tongues hot and wet and wanting as they dueled together.

Rosalie kept herself propped up on one elbow as she quickly reached down and grabbed the waistband of Bella's underwear, pulling them down and kicking them off of her before Bella could react. She ran her slender hand up Bella's inner thigh and spread it wider, moving herself in between. She broke the kiss and panted.

###

"_Are you ready?" _ She questioned, still wanting Bella's permission before she went any further. Bella nodded and bit her lip. Rosalie leaned down and kissed her gently as she ran one finger through Bella's slit, starting at the top and drawing slowly down to circle her opening.

Bella was already dripping wet, but Rosalie brought more of her juices up to her clit. She kept her touch light and deliberately slow, and Bella gasped and squirmed with each movement. She ran her finger back down to Bella's entrance and pressed the heel of her hand against Bella's clit as she slowly slid one long finger inside of her. Bella gasped. She was so tight; tight enough that Rosalie was afraid for a second that she'd hurt her.

"_Are you okay?" _She breathed, losing herself in the dark orbs that stared up at her.

"_Fuck yes," _Bella hissed. Rosalie hadn't expected her to be any kind of dirty talker, but she wasn't complaining. Rosalie pushed back into her and began to run the heel of her hand against her clit as she fucked her slowly, pushing her finger deeper into Bella's hot core. As Rosalie pushed in and out, Bella thrust her hips up in time, and she breathed heavily.

After a few moments, Rosalie pulled out and spread more of Bella's juices over her clit before carefully pushing two fingers back in to her.

"_SHIT," _Bella hissed again, _"Oh my God Rose, that feels so fucking good." _Rosalie let her body press into Bella's as she removed her supporting hand and brought it under Bella's ass so she could fuck her harder.

Bella grabbed Rosalie's lower lip with her teeth and yanked her in for a kiss. Rosalie growled as the brunette began to twitch erratically beneath her. Bella's hands found her breasts and she kneaded them roughly as Rosalie worked her long fingers in and out of Bella's tight center.

She felt so tight around Rosalie's fingers, and so good as the muscles clamped and clenched around her, drawing her in deeper. She let her tongue thrust into Bella's mouth at the same time as her fingers, and Bella couldn't seem to stop moaning.

###

If Rosalie had been able to form a coherent thought at that moment, she would have been grateful for the fact that no one else was home. Bella's moaning only got louder and louder with each thrust. She was shaking uncontrollably, and Rosalie could feel her walls pulsing as the first wave of her orgasm hit, but there was no way Rosalie was going to stop now.

She moved her hand from Bella's back and buried her head in the crook of her neck for leverage as she moved the hand to Bella's clit. She fucked her hard and deep with one hand while the other took care of her clit, rubbing it furiously as she thrust in and out of her.

"_FUCK!" _Bella yelled as Rosalie's hand worked her feverishly. Bella was coming hard, and she moaned louder and faster as her body was pushed to its limit. Rosalie almost died as she felt Bella's walls clamp down tighter than she'd ever experienced before in her life.

"_Ohmygod your pussy feels so fucking good," _Rosalie blurted out before she could stop herself. But Bella just bucked beneath her and hyperventilated. She was screaming now. Rosalie curled her fingers up and thrust hard, keeping them deep inside of Bella as she moved the pads back and forth on the sensitive patch of skin hidden within her walls. With one last scream, Bella slammed her hips against Rosalie's hands.

###

As hot liquid gushed from inside her, Rosalie pulled out of Bella and stroked her outer folds gently, letting the girl come down from her high. Bella clung to her tightly as she panted, and pulled Rosalie's lips to her own as soon as she could move. She kissed Rosalie hard, and then pulled away, still desperately out of breath.

"_I see stars, Rose, is that normal?" _She panted, opening her eyes to try and look at Rosalie. Rosalie was too out of breath herself, otherwise she would have chuckled at Bella.

Bella gazed deeply into Rosalie's own orbs as she tried to calm her breathing. Without thinking, Rosalie brought her hand up to her lips and licked her fingers clean. Bella looked a little shocked, but Rosalie was enjoying her taste too much to care.

"_Um, Rose, um…" _ Bella stuttered as she panted. _"Does that, like taste good?" _Rosalie leaned in and kissed her deeply, letting Bella taste her own juices.

"_Um yeah, Bella, you taste fucking amazing." _Rosalie groaned.

"_Wow," _Bella gasped. Rosalie arched her eyebrow questioningly. _"What you did just then, with my, um you know, and your mouth and kissing me-" _Rosalie smirked as Bella rambled.

"_What about it, Bella?"_

"_That was the fucking hottest thing I think I've ever seen." _Bella gasped, her voice raspy from screaming. _"I mean, Rose, that was REALLY fucking hot." _Rosalie threw back her head in laughter.

"_Glad you think so," _ she laughed as Bella blushed. _"Because I think YOU are really fucking hot." _She smirked at Bella and pecked her lips.

"_Oh my God and Rose, when you said that stuff about my, um, my, um…" _Bella shifted nervously beneath her. "_My, um, my pussy," _Bella continued her rambling. _"I mean, when you said that I think I came so hard I almost died. I mean, I thought I was having an aneurysm or something."_ Rosalie wasn't used to talking of any kind after sex, but this kind of pillow-talk with Bella was pretty awesome.

"_Yeah, sorry about that," _Rosalie apologized, looking away. _"It just kind of slipped out."_

"_No Rose it was really sexy, I mean, I've never liked that word, but hearing you say it – Oh my God it was sexy." _Bella grinned as she pushed her head back into the pillows. _"Say it again."_

"_No," _Rose chuckled as she buried her head in the crook of Bella's neck, clearly embarrassed.

"_Please?" _Bella whined.

"_No way," _Rosalie grinned as she shook her head, pulling it back up. _"Don't encourage my dirty talk, Bella; if you do I might not be able to stop." _Bella's smile only widened and she giggled as she rolled off Rosalie and onto her side.

"_Did it really feel good?" _She questioned Rosalie in a low voice, like she was saying something she shouldn't.

"_Yeah but what specifically are you referring to?"_

"_My um," _Bella paused and rolled her eyes as the blush threatened to overtake her entire face. _"My um, you know what I mean. You said it felt good, does it?"_

"_Oh God yeah," _Rosalie couldn't help the dreamy look on her face as she remembered what it felt like to be inside of the beautiful brunette. _"Yeah, it felt amazing."_

"_Can I try it with you?" _Bella asked, looking legitimately innocent despite the subject matter in question.

"_Sometime, yes," _Rosalie responded. _"But for right now I think we need to get you dressed and out of here before my brother gets home."_

"_But we can do this again, right?" _Bella looked suddenly nervous. _"I mean, do you want to do this again?"_

"_Oh yes, we can definitely do this again." _Rosalie replied seductively. _"I definitely want to do this with you again."_

"_Okay well how about tomorrow night, I think I have-" _Bella cut herself off -_"oh wait I have to meet um…" _Bella looked down at the covers sheepishly.

"_Edward?" _Rosalie finished her sentence.

"_I'm sorry Rose, I didn't mean to-"_

"_Oh Bella Jesus Christ its fine, I don't care." _Bella looked at Rosalie hesitantly, and Rosalie flashed her a warm smile, masking her true feelings expertly. _"I don't care about your boyfriend; don't even give it another thought." _She patted Bella's hand.

"_But I do care about getting you out of here before we get caught, so come on, get your clothes on." _Bella groaned but got up to find her jeans, very slowly.

"_Come on, quit dragging your heels," _Rosalie chided her. Bella looked dejected as she slid her hooded sweater over her slender arms. Rosalie grabbed her and brought her in for a hug. Bella sighed and hugged her back, refusing to let go when Rosalie tried to pull away. Rosalie finally escaped her grasp and leaned down to peck her lips.

"_We'll do this soon again, I promise." _She told Bella reassuringly. _"But right now the moment of separation is upon us, and you've got to get your hot little body out of here before Emmett totally busts in!" _Bella squealed as she swatted her playfully on the ass and out the door.

###

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Don't be thrown off by the beginning of this chapter; I don't actually write about what happens at the beach until the next one, but the first few lines kind of set it up. And okay, I never thought I'd become this person – I actually promised myself I wouldn't – but I've become a total review whore. I can't help it – reviews are just so fucking great! And addictive as hell. I don't even care if they say like, one word – they're like crack. I finally understand why authors are always asking for them. I'm so sorry I caved – but I swear they make me churn out chapters so much faster. I never like when writers on this site say stuff like that, because I feel like you're holding the reader hostage. And I don't want to do that – I'll update no matter what. But fuck I LOVE reviews. I can't fight this feeling anymore…

###

The two girls lay on a large towel on the sand, taking in the last rays of the summer sun. It was late September and technically already fall, but the East Coast had been un-seasonably warm, and Rosalie was not the type to miss out on any opportunities an Indian summer presented her with. When she'd asked Bella if she'd like to come with her to the Hamptons for the weekend, the girl initially all but threw herself at Rosalie. _Initially._

_###_

Rosalie had seen Bella walking down their block that Thursday night as she crept along in her SUV, midway through the standard 40 minute torture session that was trying to parking on the street in New York. Bella nearly jumped out of her skin when Rosalie honked from the car, but her body relaxed when she saw that it was Rosalie behind the wheel. The smaller girl smiled brightly and ran over to her.

It was the first time Bella had seen her in the nearly two weeks that Rosalie had been in Maine at her summer home. She'd chatted with Bella via text every once in a while, but had made a point to stay out of contact and stay busy, and she took her time responding to Bella's frequent messages. In retrospect, this was a stupid thing to do, as it only gave Rosalie more license to stew over her growing feelings for the girl. But she'd done it to herself, as usual. She'd been a bit more forthcoming and had increased the frequency of her texts back to Bella at the end of the trip, but even still she had actually been quite nervous to see the beautiful brunette again. She was worried that she'd been perhaps _too_ distant. So she was secretly thrilled as she watched Bella run over to her car excitedly.

"_Casual Thursday?" _Rosalie questioned her coolly. Bella was dressed down in her black chucks, trusty skinny jeans, and a faded red Grateful Dead t-shirt that was a bit too big for her. But as usual, she looked adorable, none-the-less.

"_Hello to you too, Rose," _Bella rolled her eyes theatrically as she grinned. _"And uh, nope, left work at lunch 'cause a bird decided to drop a present on my shoulder." _ She placed her hands on the window and leaned forward.

"_Gross," _Rosalie muttered as she wrinkled her nose. She hadn't change her steely expression (much less smiled at Bella) since she'd first spotted her, and Rosalie could tell the smaller girl was starting to get nervous.

She kept it that way as she dead-panned; _"I don't know if you missed the memo, but…" _In typical Rosalie fashion, she paused so she could watch Bella tense up. "_Um," _she continued,_ "the exaggerated eye-roll is kind of my move, little one." _Rosalie ran a slender hand through her long blonde locks and winked at the girl.

"_Get in."_

###

Rosalie couldn't help but crack a smile as she watched Bella through her mirrors as the girl literally skipped behind the car and to the passenger door. She forced the stern look to return to her face as Bella hopped in, nearly getting hit by a taxi that was trying to get around the standing vehicle in the process. The driver threw his middle finger out the window, cursing as he passed them.

"_Ooops." _Bella looked up at Rosalie with big puppy dog eyes as she smiled tentatively.

"_Ok first," _Rosalie looked down the end of her perfect nose as she scolded the brunette, her voice as cold as ever. _"Didn't your mother ever tell you that you're always supposed to walk IN FRONT of a car when you're going around it?" _Bella opened her mouth to object but Rosalie held up her hand, silencing her. _"Second, ALWAYS look for behind you before you get into a car in New York, you could have gotten killed, seriously." _

"_Sorry, it was stupid I just-" _Rosalie held her hand up again, much more emphatically, again cutting her off.

"_I'm not done so shut it," _Rosalie struggled to keep her icy glare as a smile began to tease at the corners of her mouth. Although she was dead serious about Bella watching for cars, she wasn't actually angry with her. But Rosalie did take just soooo much pleasure in messing with her, and the terrified look on the smaller girl's face right now was priceless. Rosalie has to remind herself that she was probably coming off meaner than she intended; she always did.

"_Okay third, Bella," _She began authoritatively, _"And are you listening because this is really fucking important?" _Bella looked up, eyes wide. She nodded. Rosalie huffed forcibly, and could see the confusion in the smaller girl's expression as the corners of Rosalie's lips betrayed her. _"Third," _Rosalie continued, fighting the smile that had already progressed to a definite smirk, _"will you go to East Hampton with me this weekend?"_

_### _

"_God Rose, you are SUCH a fucker," _Bella groaned as she flopped dramatically back into the passenger seat.

It was Rosalie's turn to roll her eyes.

"_Oh please, I actually wasn't kidding about the looking behind you for cars part; I'd really prefer not to have to get your brains detailed off my nice leather interior." _Bella grinned at her; lately she'd barely been able to stop grinning whenever she saw Rosalie. _"And I'm soooo not going all the way to the fucking Greenwich dealership to replace the door." _Rosalie of course grinned back as she said this; although she'd never be like Bella, she _had_ noticed that she'd found herself smiling an awful lot more lately.

"_This is YOUR car?" _Bella kind of gasped as she ran her fingers over the walnut inlay by the dashboard.

"_No I jacked it a few blocks away, hope you know how to fire a gun." _Rosalie smirked.

"_Shut up, I'm serious," _Bella groaned. _"THIS is your car?" _

"_Oh come on, it's a Lexus RX450H, what's the big deal?" _Rosalie snapped back, annoyed. She always got uncomfortable when people made an issue out of her money – she hated when anyone discussed her wealth. Her boobs – no problem, but money was off-limits. So she couldn't help but exhale in relief at Bella's next words:

"_Rosalie, it's a HYBRID!" _Bella giggled as she twisted her body to lean on her side, facing the beautiful, and now very relieved but slightly confused, blonde. _"You're like, the last person on earth I ever thought would have a hybrid car!"_

"_So I'm a little green…" _Rosalie said almost shyly. She looked down at her manicure, feeling slightly embarrassed that Bella was kind of laughing _at_ her. _"Why is that funny?"_ She asked as she looked back at Bella with questioning eyes, for once not a trace of defensiveness in her tone.

"_Awww, look at you, gorgeous Rosalie Hale being all bashful," _Bella teased. _"I think it's cute," _she said as she leaned across the console and kissed a very surprised Rosalie gently on the lips.

###

Rosalie was too shocked to kiss back for the first few moments. They were _right_ in front of their apartment building. But as Bella's lips sent their usual, heart-attack inducing adrenaline rush through her body, she relented.

Rosalie pressed her lightly glossed lips into Bella's own, and reached for the hand that had snaked its way into her hair. She settled for holding Bella's wrist gently instead. She felt a soft tongue run across her lips and granted it entrance tentatively. But as soon as her tongue touched Bella's, all hell broke loose.

All of a sudden she found herself full-on making out with Bella, and intensly making out at that; the smaller girl had practically vaulted over the console and was now straddling Rosalie as she grabbed fistfuls of the blonde's long locks. They both moaned as their tongues pressed into each other's mouths deeply. Rosalie gasped as again, Bella's sneaky fingers were suddenly under her skirt and rubbing insistently on her clit through her thong.

"_Jesus, Bella," _Rosalie managed to get out in an effort to stop her, but the smaller girl's fingers were like magic, and her utterance seemed to only egg Bella on. Rosalie reached up under the back of Bella's t-shirt and began to rub her back without thinking.

Bella rocked her hips into Rosalie's as she rubbed her rhythmically, pressing hard. Bella refused to break the kiss. She literally would not let Rosalie pull back, and would only let her pause for (what felt like) less than a second to take a few brief breaths here and there before she would slam their lips together again.

###

The two beautiful girls were having a hard-core makeout session, and Rosalie was so turned on she thought she might explode. Bella's fingers on her clit felt incredible, and her lips were so soft and wet. She tasted like mint and fresh water as she thrust her tongue in and out of Rosalie's wanting mouth.

It barely registered to Rosalie that the windows were beginning to fog, but Bella, having the clearer head of the two, groped blindly behind her as she swallowed Rosalie's moans. As much as she knew it was wrong, Rosalie desperately wanted Bella's fingers back on her currently _hyper-_sensitive nub. Bella finally managed to hit the correct button, strategically lowering the windows in the back seat and then snapping her hand right back to her previous position. The friction her fingers were creating as they rubbed Rosalie aggressively through the fabric of her thong was delicious; Bella's fingers were amazing.

It was still quite light out, and anyone could have seen them – in fact, reflecting back later on, Rosalie was pretty sure that everyone who happened to walk by _did_ see them (as she got quite a few strange looks, and even more suggestive ones, from the neighborhood regulars in the weeks after.) And, as the SUV was basically double-parked on the narrow cross-street, every single car that had to go around the two girls to pass _had_ to have seen. They were openly visible, and Bella didn't seem to mind. And Rosalie couldn't think straight enough at the moment to mind either.

###

A loud honk startled them, and Rosalie pulled away long enough to notice that two blue-collar type guys were leaning out of the window of their van, watching and whistling. And completely blocking traffic. One of them yelled _"take her shirt off," _But Bella didn't seem to care at all, instead grabbing Rosalie with her right hand and going right back into the kiss with even more intensity while _simultaneously_ holding her left hand out towards the passenger side window and flipping the guys off.

Rosalie only noticed this because she wanted to see why Bella's fingers hadn't resumed their magic. For some reason, seeing Bella this bold and brazen had turned Rosalie on so much that she was pretty sure she'd have to clean the leather interior the next day. She was really, _really_ wet.

"_That's fucking hot," _she moaned as she looked over at Bella's gesturing hand.

"_What?" _Bella murmured into Rosalie's swollen pink lips. _"My middle finger?" _She glanced over at the direction Rosalie was staring in.

"_Yeah," _Rosalie breathed back. _"I like your middle finger," _She said without thinking. _Shit, that probably wasn't the smartest thing to say, _she thought, inwardly smirking as her lips devoured Bella's hungrily. And then moaning _loudly _as Bella's fingers were suddenly nudging her panties aside and then immediately inside her.

"_Holy Jesus, oh fuck yes," _Rosalie whispered as her hips bucked. Bella continued to kiss her desperately as she moved in and out of her tight hole. Her movements were initially tentative, owing to the fact that she'd never actually done this before, but every careful thrust of Bella's fingers still felt like they sent tiny lightning bolts through Rosalie's bloodstream. Painful, tiny hot bolts. Bella's body pressed so deeply into Rosalie's that the friction had forced her navy cap-sleeved cashmere sweater to twist halfway around her body. Her short white denim skirt had scrunched up somewhere well above her navel.

_This is so wrong_, she thought as she rode Bella's fingers and returned her hungry kisses with equal intensity. _Fuck, this is so fucking wrong, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck._

"_Oh FUCK!" _She said out loud as Bella suddenly rammed two fingers into her with the full force of her hips behind the thrusting hand. She had just pushed into her very deep and _very_ hard, and the mixed sensation of pain and pleasure forced Rosalie's eyes open.

###

"_Oh FUCK! _She exclaimed again as she struggled frantically under Bella.

"_You like that, do you?"_ Bella husked seductively.

"_Oh FUCK, Bella get the fuck off of me!"_ Rosalie used all of her strength to throw the girl into the passenger seat.

"_Rose what the fuck-"_ Bella froze as soon as she saw what Rosalie was freaking out over, and Rosalie reached over and shoved her to the floor of the front seat before Edward, who was now only about five feet away from the car, had a chance to see. Rosalie threw the Lexus into gear and sped down the street and away from Bella's boyfriend.

###

Rosalie gasped for air as they waited for the traffic light to change at the end of the block. Bella was still crouched down on the floor of the car, even though they were way too far away from Edward to be seen.

"_Oh my God Rose, I'm so scared." _She wasn't exaggerating; the small brunette looked absolutely terrified. Rosalie was too out of breath to be able to speak; partly from adrenaline but mostly because of the orgasm that she'd been about four thrusts away from when she'd spotted Edward. _Edward. Bella's boyfriend. _She cringed as she mentally reminded herself. The light was taking forever to change. _God WHY do these lights always take so fucking long,_ she mused angrily. Suddenly her mind was blank and all she could feel was overwhelming rage.

"_These FUCKING lights!" _She yelled as she slammed her fist into the dashboard, punching it so hard that she jammed one of the air-conditioning vents way too far back into its socket. It would probably cost a fortune to fix, and the outburst had done nothing to quell her frustration.

"_Bella, you can get up now, we're like 700 feet away, he's not going to see you." _ She spat the words out and immediately regretted them. _You don't care, Rosalie, act like it's not a big deal, it's no big deal, you don't care, it's not a big deal, _she reminded herself repetitively, but her mental instructions were doing very little.

The light changed and they turned onto Second Avenue, only to have _that_ light switch to red before they could pass. Bella sat up in the seat and turned to Rosalie, her expression still fearful.

"_He didn't see, did he?"_ Her voice was shaky. _"Oh God please tell me he did see, please tell me he didn't see."_ The words cut Rosalie like a knife and she didn't know why. _"Oh my God, what am I going to do?" _She was questioning herself more than Rosalie. _"He'll never forgive me, oh God please tell me he didn't see."_

"_He didn't see." _Rosalie replied without emotion. _Because God forbid you have to break up with your loser boyfriend, _she rolled her eyes as she mused ruefully. _Because she doesn't want to be with me, she wants to be with him._

_### _

She felt like she'd been punched in the stomach with that last realization; her thoughts hurt her so much. _I know girls that would kill to get caught fingering me in the front seat of my Lexus, and I fall for the one that would rather die than have anyone find out that she even likes me._ It was arrogant but true; all Rosalie could feel was rejection, all she could think was that Bella was ashamed of her.

It was too cliché, _this is just too fucking cliché, I don't care about people that are ashamed of me, I don't care. I don't care that she has a boyfriend._ She took a deep breath and tried to will her thoughts in a different direction.

_Okay I can't think about Edward,_ she cringed again just thinking of his name. _I can't let her see that I care about her boyfriend, think about something else, think about something else. _Rosalie wracked her brain for a suitable distraction. _Algebra,_ she thought, _perfect. _Rosalie calmed down as she thought up a problem to do in her head. _The quadratic formula; I love the quadratic formula._ She actually almost chuckled at how weird she would sound if anyone could hear her thoughts right now. _Okay a is 2, b is 22, c is 80;_ Rosalie used the digits of her birthday, that was the only thing that came to mind. _I wonder what it will be like watching Bella and Edward at her birthday…shit! _She turned the car onto 84th street and immediately got stuck behind a garbage truck.

"_Oh come on!" _Rosalie laughed out loud as she smacked the wheel, but there was no joy in the sound. Bella had taken to staring out the window. _Probably thinking about how much she loves her boyfriend, _she mused bitterly. _Okay enough Rosalie, think about something else or she'll know that you're upset about him. You're NOT upset about him. You're Rosalie fucking Hale; you do NOT get upset over boyfriends._

###

Her self-talk was clearly not working very well. _Okay a is 2, b is 22, c is 80, solve for x._ Rosalie refocused, but her mind was too fast and, sadly, she was _good_ at algebra. _Okay x equals negative 22 – god I hate that guy - plus or minus the square root of 22 squared –I can't believe she likes him - times 4 times 2 times 80 – I mean I'm like sooo the better choice, I know I am - all over 2 times 2._ Unfortunately, she barely had to think for more than a few seconds. _Fuck, x is five, _she cursed to herself. _Why doesn't she like me?_

She needed something more challenging - she could not let herself think about the beautiful girl in the seat next to her that only minutes before had been kissing her like her life depended on it. She couldn't think about how much it hurt that Bella hadn't dumped Edward the instant they hooked up. Or even mentioned it. Or even once pressured Rosalie for a relationship. No she couldn't let herself think like that. _Please God, don't let me think about it._ She swore she almost felt some tears forming. _It's like she doesn't even care. _ _For once I care and she doesn't, how fucked up is that? How fucking typical._

###

Her nails started to cut into the leather of the steering wheel she hadn't realized she'd held in a death-grip since the first traffic light. _Okay calculus, I'll do an advanced differential – wait, what the fuck is that again?_ Rosalie, ever the perfectionist, was relieved for probably the first time in her entire life that she _couldn't_ remember something. As the garbage truck crept forward, stopping at every building on the way, Rosalie searched her brain for the answer. She loved calculus; she couldn't believe that she didn't even remember the equation, much less solve it. _Maybe I can't remember because I'm so upset, because Bella has a boyfriend and I care and I shouldn't and…_

"_Uggh!" _ Rosalie groaned as she smacked the steering wheel. Luckily to anyone watching, including Bella, it appeared like she was just frustrated with the garbage truck; so far Bella was still clueless that the stunning, obscenely wealthy, seemingly beyond confident model was actually groaning because she couldn't stop thinking about how much she wanted Bella to dump her boyfriend for her.

_Okay focus,_ Rosalie mentally commanded herself for the umpteenth time, _given y equals sin 4x, the first derivative is…_

As Rosalie wracked her brain, she was unaware that Bella was now staring at her longingly. _Goddammit, how could you forget this, _she chided herself, _you fucking loved advanced calc. _She continued to agonize over the lost equation as she turned onto First Avenue, and was too focused to even celebrate over the parking spot she found immediately. She maneuvered the sleek black car into the space with ease, her mind still successfully distracted. She threw the gear shift into park and collapsed back into the seat.

She turned to face Bella, who was eyeing her curiously. _"Bella," _she questioned distractedly, _"how the fuck do you find the first derivative in differential calculus?"_

_###_

"_Huh?" _Bella was utterly confused, but Rosalie's brain was still stuck in math mode, and she was the type of person that wasn't going to rest until she figured it out.

"_You know, like given that y equals sin 4 x?"_ Rosalie spoke plainly, in that moment not even considering that her question wasn't perfectly normal.

"_Huh?" _Bella repeated. _"Um, is that like math or something?" _She started to smile.

"_Um, it's calculus, duh." _Rosalie snapped back. Bella put her hands up in mock defense.

"_Um, I didn't even make it past algebra, smart ass." _Bella rolled her eyes. Even when they were rolling, Bella's eyes were so beautiful; rich and dark, perfectly shaped. _Her eyes are perfect,_ Rosalie thought.

"_Perfect," _Rosalie husked and then cringed, realizing she'd just said that out loud.

"_You're so weird!" _Bella giggled, and smiled broadly. It seemed that when Bella smiled or giggled at her, it made it pretty much impossible for Rosalie to be mad at her. That was too rare; Bella was too rare. She couldn't walk away from Bella. She'd have to learn to deal. Having any part of Bella was better than not having her at all.

"_Soooooo," _Rosalie began. _"You coming to the beach with me this weekend or what?"_

_###_

_TBC_


	12. Chapter 12

###

Rosalie basked in the warmth as she watched the waves, propped casually up on her elbows. She un-crossed and stretched her long, lean legs as she threw her head back and closed her eyes. The sun felt amazing on her skin – she'd been spoiled the past two weeks with perfectly sunny weather in Maine, and while up there, she'd taken every opportunity available to soak it up. There was something about the end of summer that made her frantic; it made many people frantic, she supposed. But regardless, around September 10th Rosalie would begin laying-out like a mad-woman, much to the annoyance of her family and her younger brother Emmett. This was the time of year that she'd let herself get as tan as she possibly could; all caution and moderation out the window.

That tan gave her confidence as the months grew colder; it was like a visual reminder that better days were behind and ahead. Rosalie didn't like the winter, and she hadn't since she was a young teen. For Rosalie, the winter meant solitude, and loss, and pain. Summer; that was a time to keep in your heart. But winter, winter was just a time to endure. So Rosalie's tan served as a reminder to her of the summer she so loved, and when the hours began to dwindle, she would forgo all else in favor of capturing those last few indicators of the happy times in her life.

###

Her most recent visit to Maine was no exception; she spent it draped on a lounger by the water, reading, or writing, or thinking. Each year during the month of September, Rosalie _had_ to spend every single second outside. If she wasn't lying out, she was playing tennis, or sailing, or hiking, or climbing with Emmett. This past trip, she'd made a pointed effort to be as physically active outside as possible, much to Emmett's delight. She wanted her body in the best shape she could make it; granted, Rosalie always wanted this, but now it seemed indefinitely more important. She had a girl to impress.

So by the time she made it to the beach with Bella, on a Friday afternoon around 1pm, she was the perfect physical specimen. Every single slender muscle had been worked tight from two weeks of sailing and swimming and rock climbing, and her skin glowed bronze from her hours in the sun. She looked incredible. Even her therapist had noticed.

Earlier that day, around 9:00am:

"_Well, Miss Hale, nice to have you back after a" _She shuffled through her papers for dramatic effect while keeping her expression and tone non-plussed_ "an almost two month hiatus from sessions." _

"_As much as I enjoy your insight, Dr. Hatcher, I think it's best if you leave the dramatic pauses and feigned indifference up to me. For a psychologist, you're awfully easy to read_." Rosalie winked at the doctor, who began to chuckle.

"_I think it's fair to say, Miss Hale, that I've truly missed your witticisms and use of flirty banter as defensive deflections. You make me feel like the Cybil Sheppard to your Bruce Willis, and it's been dreadfully boring without our weekly sparring sessions."_

"_Ha – did you just make a 'Moonlighting' reference?" _Rosalie threw her head back in brief laughter._ "Hatcher, I forgot how much I liked you."_

"_Then don't disappear again, Hale, for the sake of my own happiness if nothing else." _

"_I'm here, aren't I?"_

"_Yes you are, and in all your glory, I might add. You look exceptional right now, Rosalie." _

"_Do I?"_

"_Yes, you look absolutely stunning. Objectively, of course; your skin is absolutely glowing from that tan, your hair is captivating, your face is breathtaking, as always, and your body looks more sculpted than I think I've ever seen it. But you knew all of that already, didn't you?"_

"_Of course, but thank you, none-the-less."_

"_So this wouldn't have anything to do with Bella, would it?"_ She was surprised that the psychologist linked her behavior to the gorgeous brunette so quickly– the last time they'd met, Rosalie was still only in the throes of a painful crush on the girl…

"_Mmm, maybe." _Rosalie looked over at the marble andirons in the large fireplace behind Dr. Hatcher's chair. "_Hatcher, how on earth can you even pretend that those andirons are functional? They're made of Thasos marble, for Christ's sake. Any idiot knows that material would blacken the second a real fire touched it."_

"_Hale, tell me about Bella. I haven't spoken to you in two months. Your deflections are charming but counter-productive. What would Jamie say right now?"_

_Uggh, _Rosalie groaned internally, regretting having revealed her Achilles heel to the doctor in a moment of weakness about six months prior. _I need to find a new therapist, _she mused_._ Of course immediately upon thinking that, she remembered what Jamie would have said about running away from yet another shrink.

"_Well played, Hatcher. Jamie would say to shut the fuck up and talk to you, because my reasons for avoiding you are so painfully obvious and cliché that she'd be actually embarrassed for me."_

The doctor smiled victoriously.

"_Don't look so fucking smug, Hatcher. You have Jamie to thank for this little 'break-through,' not any talent of your own."_

"_That was hurtful, Rosalie."_ The doctor actually looked slightly wounded as she spoke.

"_Well don't fucking smirk at me like that, you know-"_ Rosalie cut herself off. _Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,_ she reminded herself._ "I'm sorry, Dr. Hatcher, you're right, that was hurtful. You didn't deserve that."_

"_You're forgiven, Rosalie. God I wish I could just grab that girl and hug her for the effect she had on you."_

"_Stop, okay? Please. Don't say things like that." _ Dr. Hatcher recognized the true sorrow in Rosalie's eyes as the beautiful blonde spoke mournfully.

"_I'm sorry, Rosalie, I shouldn't have said that. But now please tell me about Bella, what's going on with you two?"_

"_Um, we kissed, in Coney Island of all places. Don't even bother to ask me what I was doing there; the back story is painfully long and unnecessary. But we kissed, finally. Actually, we made out for hours on the beach."_

"_How did that make you feel?"_

"_Before it happened; more nervous and excited than I've ever felt around another person in my entire life, so as you know, I felt pretty much like I always do when it comes to Bella."_ Dr. Hatcher chuckled.

"_During; incredible. Hatcher, it was the most unbelievable, overpowering feeling in the world. Kissing her was like, well I know I always say this about EVERYTHING with her, but seriously, no kiss has ever made me feel anything close to what kissing her makes me feel. I literally can't find any adjectives for you that would be more appropriately fitting, because honestly Hatcher, I don't actually even understand how to describe it. I let her take control, too – how weird is that?"_

"_Elaborate."_

"_I let her kiss me; I mean like, throw me up against the sides of cars, pin me against walls, like aggressively take control type of kissing me."_

"_Wow, Rosalie, wow." _ The doctor looked somewhat flabbergasted.

"_I know, right? And Hatcher, it felt so good. Don't worry, I'm still me, I mean as soon as it was over I completely freaked out and felt like I was going to throw up when I thought about what I'd let her do to me, but I know Jamie would have just rolled her eyes at this, so I've been fighting with myself constantly since that kiss."_

"_Rosalie, I'm very proud of you. I'm so proud, I don't even know what else to say."_

"_Well wait, it gets better. Or worse, I'm not sure what to think yet. So at the end of the evening some dirt bag came up and tried to mug us with a plastic knife, and you would have been even more proud of me - I didn't hurt him, only hit him just enough to stun him and get away safely. And there were no witnesses anywhere even close; it was the perfect opportunity for me to, well, you know... But all I could think about was Bella; I didn't even care about the guy. All I could think about was kissing her again, and I didn't want her to see that other side of me, so I barely touched him. I was like, absolutely drunk from kissing her. I mean, I felt completely out-of-control. And I didn't care – how insane is that?"_

"_But you cared afterwards?"_

"_Oh of course I did, I've been freaking out ever since; I literally think I've got multiple personality disorder at this point. But listen, so when the guy attacked, at one point I called Bella my girlfriend to him." _Rosalie watched the doctor's brow furrow with concern.

"_So we kissed the entire way home, and it was amazing, she didn't even care about getting caught outside the building. She's incredible, Hatcher. She really is. And she is so gorgeous. Like, absolutely breath-taking… Hang on, what was my point? Oh yeah, so right as we were saying goodnight, she teased me for calling her my girlfriend, and of course I just snapped."_

"_I'm sure she probably didn't understand why."_

"_I don't know, sometimes I get this odd feeling that she understands me somehow. But regardless, I just freaked out and shut her down."_

"_So how do you feel about her now?"_

"_Oh no Hatcher, this story gets much crazier. After two weeks of avoiding her, I could barely breathe I was so consumed with finding out if she really did like me. And more than that, I really missed her, Hatcher. Despite everything I keep trying to do to prevent myself from feeling something for her, I'm woefully worse off with each day that passes. None of my tricks are working. It's like something has taken over my body, and what is so strange is that I don't even care. I cannot BELIEVE this is happening to me, but a huge part of me is thrilled. I never thought I could feel something like this. So I basically threw a party to try to make her jealous and get her back."_

"_Did it work?" _

"_I don't know if it made her jealous, but I got so hammered that I didn't care and I just went after her. And yes, that worked, she basically attacked me in Jasper's room and then we ended up in her bedroom with her ripping my clothes off, but she was drunk and I didn't want to be with her like that. I'm pretty sure she's never been with a girl before, and I wanted her to feel comfortable with me. God Hatcher, your eyes are so wide right now it's priceless." _

"_Well, Rosalie, I think you know why. I don't even know where to begin. So you did NOT sleep with her?" _

"_No I didn't fuck her. But I did let her cuddle up against me and sleep. And to answer your next question, yes, I actually liked it, and as you know, I haven't liked that since Jamie. She would be so proud of me, I think. I'm really trying, Hatcher. Like really trying. There's one thing though – Bella is pretty aggressive with me." _

"_Can you elaborate?" _

"_Well, like trying to touch me and stuff. She tried it that night, and yesterday as well." _

"_Wait, Rosalie, finish the story. What happened the next day?" _

"_Well I freaked out as usual, and tried to you know, convince myself not to feel anything, and I hid from her for a few days, but then she showed up at my apartment as I was on my way out the door one evening and she told me that she wasn't sure if she could handle not being with me much longer. So I slept with her, and it was really, really incredible. I know she wants me; I'm sure this craziness I'm feeling just has to be because she wants me so much and I'm clearly having some kind of emotional breakdown, but I swear Hatcher, just making her feel like that, just being with her – my heart is in the pit of my stomach right now even just talking about it."_

"_Rosalie, I don't think this is just about you. I think something is really going on here."_

"_I don't know, part of me hopes you're right and part of me just wants to rip my own skin off when I feel so out-of-control like this. But she's worth it, I just know she is. I had a dream two nights ago – weird as usual, like nazi-fighting, people-are-actually-chickens, I'm-the-president-of-the-interstellar-space-justice-agency type weird, but at one point Jamie was there and she told me that Bella was worth it. I know that's just a manifestation of my own thoughts, but it still resonated with me. I haven't seen her in my dreams in months, Hatcher."_

"_Oh Rosalie, you are so fucked up…"_ Dr. Hatcher sighed and looked at the blonde fondly.

"_See that's why you've lasted longer than any of my other shrinks, Hatcher…"_ Rosalie smiled broadly at her. _"…I really do appreciate your candor." _

"_I care about you, Rosalie. I don't want you to sabotage this, okay? Promise me you won't? You need to come by every week so we can keep you in check. I truly think this girl matters; I'm not just trying to piggyback. I'm sorry to emotionally blackmail you like this, but Rosalie, this is what Jamie would want you to do."_

"_Okay,"_ Rosalie said softly, looking down. There was that Achilles heel again. _"I'll try."_

"_Rosalie, what happened after you slept together? And when was this?"_

"_About a month ago. I haven't slept with her since, because for the first two weeks after her family was staying at her apartment, and then I was in Maine for the following two. But we managed to make out a lot during the two weeks with her family, and I saw her most nights. We'd just flirt a lot, or hold hands under the table, or whatever. I made sure to charm the hell out of her dad, who had a huge crush on me. She was stuck with them every second that she wasn't at work, but she was basically insistent that I stay with her, so I took them to dinner one night, and I played A LOT of trivial pursuit, and I just did what she asked. She's amazing, Hatcher. Even after fucking her, I still like being around her. And she can't keep her hands off of me. She found about a thousand clever ways to keep our hands covered so that she could hold mine while we were with her dad and her brothers. And it didn't feel smothering; I actually liked it. I haven't exactly opened up to her or anything, but I did let myself be around her way more than what's normal for me for those first two weeks. In Maine though, I kind of got back into my own head and I ignored her a little bit. Not horribly so, but I didn't text back and forth with her a million times a day like she would have wanted. She has a boyfriend, Hatcher, and when I was drunk the night of the party, I made it pretty obvious how much I despised it. I've tried REALLY hard to cover that up, and I'm pretty sure she thinks I don't give a shit, but yesterday I almost blew it."_

"_What happened yesterday?"_

"_Well remember how I told you about Bella's aggressiveness and how much it freaks me out?"_

"_Yes, go on…"_

"_Well I had the Lexus uptown, and I was looking for parking right outside the apartment when I saw her. It was still daylight, mind you. It was the first time I'd seen her since I'd gone away – I got back into town yesterday morning and this was like 5pm, and I was pretty nervous to see her, since I'd been kind of cold for the past two weeks. But she just trotted up to the car, and I had her get in, and then all of a sudden she was all over me. RIGHT in front of the building; I was double parked literally just feet from the entrance. And Hatcher, she didn't care, she just started kissing me like, I don't know, like I'd just returned from the war. I couldn't even think, I mean, literally, I could not think. Her lips seem to send like, literally fire all over my body and it makes coherent thought awfully difficult. She wouldn't even let me come up for air, but believe me, I didn't care. Kissing her – every time it feels better and more intense than the time before. And she was rubbing me over my thong, and I let her." _

"_Why did you let her?" _

"_I…I don't know. It just felt so good – I don't get any of the bad feelings when she's touching me. It's like I actually want her to touch me."_

"_Rosalie, that's MAJOR ." _

"_Hatcher, let's not dwell on the reasons behind that, just let me get this out. All of a sudden she's flicking off some plumbers or something that had stopped traffic to leer at us from their van, and I made some ridiculous comment about how that was sexy, and then all of a sudden she was inside me. Like, full on fucking me. And I let her. It felt wrong; I mean, somewhere my brain still registered that, but it was like I was possessed. NO control. It was frightening. Because it felt really, really, really good. Even when she started going pretty hard, it still just felt insanely good. I mean, don't get me wrong, it still hurt. But it was good, good, good pain. And then all of a sudden I opened my eyes and saw her boyfriend not yards from the car."_

"_Did he see?"_

"_No, I managed the throw her off me and shove her down onto the floor of the car before he had a chance, and I sped off, but Hatcher, she was so freaked out about getting caught that I kind of went to a bad place. I hate that she even cares about getting caught. I hate that she's with him. She should be with me."_

"_Rosalie Hale, did you just hear yourself?"_

"_Unfortunately, yes, that's why I keep doing this hot and cold bullshit. I'm so freaked out, Hatcher. But I can't stop. I'm picking her up after this session and taking her out east for the weekend."_

"_You're WHAT?"_

"_I know, I know. But I need to keep trying with this, right? And trying to fight off all of the bad feelings?"_

"_Yes, Yes, Rosalie, you really do. Something is different. You need to try to be different to match. Trust your instincts – trust what Jamie would have said. I know you can still hear her in your head. Just try to listen. Our time is up, but I'm going to give you my cell – I want you to call me if you start to get upset this weekend. Just be careful with yourself, okay? And as much as I know it feels different, do not let her touch you like that until you feel ready, okay? Because if you're not ready, Bella won't be able to understand the ramifications of her actions and you'll be forced into a very uncomfortable situation. And you'll go to your 'bad place' as you call it and it could ruin the relationship. Not to put a damper on things, you understand why I'm saying this, correct?" _Rosalie nodded.

"_And have fun, okay? Rosalie, I think this girl is in love with you. I'm not kidding. You wouldn't be unconsciously letting yourself feel this way if you hadn't perceived it from her. You are WAY too cautious for that. And you know perfectly well just how good you are at reading people. So for once, use that ridiculously self-protective caution and insight to your advantage and trust that this isn't just you having a 'quarter life crisis.' This is big, I just know it. Be good, and get your ass back here next Friday, got it?"_

"_Your candor, Hatcher. I love it." _Rosalie grinned.

"_Oh and Rosalie, try to let the boyfriend thing go a little. It sounds like she's never even been with another girl before. Give her time."_

Rosalie rolled her eyes. _"So I look hot though, right?"_

"_Yes Miss Hale, you look extremely, extremely hot."_

###

"_So…"_ Bella began as she stretched out on the towel next to the blonde. She looked up at the clear, blue sky as she spoke. _"What now?"_

"_Now,"_ Rosalie spoke low and even as she relaxed under the warm glow of the mid-day September sun. _"Now we relax."_ She pointed the perfectly pedicured light pink toes on her slender feet as she stretched again.

"_Because I'm supposed to be able to relax after the near death experience that is riding in a car with you?"_ Bella giggled and rolled over onto her stomach.

"_Oh come on, you were on a conference call the entire time. I was bored."_

"_You could have gotten me killed. How did you learn to drive like that? I felt like I was in the Barbie version of the Fast and the Furious."_

"_My father used to take me to this racing school in Connecticut every spring. I know what I'm doing, believe me."_ Rosalie rolled her eyes as she ran her hands over her stomach, stopping at the top of her black printed Missoni bikini bottom and adjusting it.

"_Oh I believe you, Rose."_ Bella reached over and snapped the string on Rosalie's bikini. Rosalie swatted at her playfully as she sat up. _"I just don't know if I trust you..."_

"_Bella, how rude!"_ Rosalie smirked as she looked down at the beautiful brunette. _"I'm truly offended. Now be quiet so we can work on our tans."_

"_As if your tan needs any more work, Rose."_ Bella snorted but then smiled coyly as she looked up at the blonde.

"_So you noticed?"_ Rosalie offered coolly.

"_Oh Rose, how I love that ego of yours." _ Bella reached out and again snapped her bikini string.

"_Oh Bella, how I missed that sassiness of yours."_ Rosalie looked down at her mischievously.

"_You missed me?"_ Bella squinted in the sun as she tried to raise an eyebrow at the gorgeous blonde above her. Rosalie remembered Dr. Hatcher's words from earlier and reminded herself to try not to be snarky.

"_Yeah,"_ Rosalie breathed, her tone sincere. _"Yeah, I did miss you."_ She let her eyes rake over Bella's resting form. The girl looked quite breath-taking herself. She was wearing the same, light green bikini that she'd worn the day of the party, and it rode low on her hips, exposing just the tops of her pelvic bones. Rosalie admired the smooth dip of her abdomen, and just the faintest outlines of the muscles beneath that flexed slightly as the smaller girl exhaled. She ran her eyes up to the delicate skin of her breasts that wasn't hidden under the halter style fabric of the bikini top. Her skin was creamy and light, but not pale. Just the slightest hint of tan covered her features perfectly. Rosalie loved how slim and soft she was. Rosalie let her gaze trace the subtle definition of the girl's biceps, down to the delicate hands that were splayed, palms down, on the plush terry cloth beach blanket they shared.

"_Rosalie stop looking at me like that, it's embarrassing."_ Bella tried to cover her torso with her arms.

"_Nope, sorry. Stop being so beautiful, then I'll stop looking."_ Rosalie continued to smirk at her.

"_That was kind of cheesy,"_ Bella squinted up at her.

"_Yeah, that was kind of cheesy, wasn't it?"_ Rosalie grimaced a little bit and flopped back down onto her back. She felt warm fingertips on her forearm and sighed as Bella threaded her hand into Rosalie's. Rosalie _had_ missed this; just being with her, holding her hand. She rubbed her thumb lightly across the fingers that had intertwined with her own.

"_So now we just lay out?"_ Bella asked, turning her head to try to sneak her own look at the blonde's body. She startled for a second when her deep brown eyes met Rosalie's green ones and she realized that Rosalie's head was already turned her way. Rosalie smiled slightly, allowing herself to get locked in Bella's gaze. She'd missed this too; she'd missed when they took each other in. It always felt so significant, and so, for lack of a better word, sexual at the same time. _"You just gonna stare at me all day, Rose?"_

"_Oh but I'm the one with the ego?"_ Rosalie teased as she squeezed the hand that held her own.

"_Oh please, how could anyone have an ego around you? You look so beautiful right now I feel like I'm in a movie or something. I'm barely even used to the idea that people like you exist in real life…"_

Instead of re-assuring her or returning the compliment, Rosalie just muttered _"thanks"_ and looked up at the sky. There was a basic economy to attraction, and she didn't want to make Bella feel _too_ comfortable or the girl might stop liking her so much. They laid together in silence for a while, with Rosalie trying to relax but so keenly aware of the feel of the hand she held that relaxation wasn't really an option. But she was more than happy to settle for the nervous tingles instead. After about a half-hour, she sat up. Bella opened one eye lazily. _"Time to rotate,"_ Rosalie answered her silent query.

"_Wow Rose, you really do take this tanning thing seriously. Is this why I had to have my bathing suit on at 8 o'clock this morning?"_

"_Yup, no time to stop at the house first."_

"_Why didn't we just leave sooner – where were you this morning?"_

"_Oh, the shrink."_ Rosalie said plainly.

"_Really?"_ Bella said earnestly as she brought her hands back behind her head.

"_Yeah are you surprised?"_ Rosalie asked, making sure to keep any defensiveness out of her tone.

"_Only that you'd actually tell me you went to one. I mean, you're not exactly forthcoming most of the time…"_

"_Yes, I know. But this is New York, who doesn't see a therapist?"_ Rosalie rolled her eyes sarcastically. _"I figure I can at least let you in on that without losing my mystery…"_

Bella kept her eyes shut as she asked in a somewhat annoyed tone: "_Remind me again why you can't lose the mystery?"_

Rosalie picked up a bottle of water from the edge of the blanket and poured some into her hand. _"Have to keep the thrill alive somehow,"_ she deadpanned as she dribbled the water on Bella's stomach. The smaller girl shriek and sat bolt upright.

"_Rose, you are such a fucker!"_

Rose simply smirked and handed her the bottle. _"Thirsty?" _

###

An hour later of laying in comfortable silence, Rosalie was still feeling awfully playful. She dropped Bella's hand; the one that had quickly found its way back to hers soon after she'd forced Bella to drink from her water bottle.

"_Hey,"_ Bella said drowsily. _"Where do you think you're going?"_

"_To the car; I need to check my phone."_ Rosalie lied easily. Bella closed her eyes and returned to her half-slumbering state. Rosalie, her movements masked by the loud roar of the ocean, jogged down to the water's edge and dove in. She shivered as the cold liquid washed over her. She swam out a few meters, enjoying the sensation of the cool water on her lithe body as she cut a path past the break. She decided that this weekend she would just let herself live in the moment; she'd put her frustrating internal monologue on mute and enjoy just being with the beautiful brunette back on shore.

After a few minutes, she emerged from the surf and looked over at Bella. The girl looked mouth-watering as she slept on the towel; her skin glowing with warmth and softness. Rosalie tiptoed back to their spot, careful to mind her shadow so as not to give herself away. Bella was still unaware of her presence as she hovered over her. She pounced.

"_Hey!" _Bella yelped as she felt a soaking wet body cover her own. Above her, a beautiful blonde laughed as she struggled to contain the squirming brunette. Bella's warm, dry skin against Rosalie's cool, wetness felt like heaven to Rosalie. _"Rosalie, like I said, you are SUCH a fucker." _ Rosalie smirked and dipped down to press full, red lips to the sensitive flesh behind Bella's ear. _"Rose, you're freezing! Oh I am so getting you for this, now payback's going to have to be double!"_

"_Oh really?"_ Rosalie crooned in her ear. "_There was already payback coming to me?"_

"_Yes you horrible girl, I already have to get you for flirting with my dad."_ Bella lifted her head and tried to nip Rosalie's chin, but she evaded her.

"_Hey, that's not my fault, your dad is a total babe…"_ Bella groaned at Rosalie's gleeful words. _"And besides, I definitely overheard him telling you that he thought I was sexy..."_

"_Oh God gross, you heard that?" _ Rosalie nodded as she grinned playfully. "_Ew that's so embarrassing."_

"_Well I think I might like him, so…"_ Rosalie's smirk threatened to entirely consume her graceful features.

"_Oh you think?"_ Bella responded with a smirk of her own. _"You totally threw a game of trivial pursuit for him, if that's not love then-"_

"_Bella!"_ Rosalie cut her off and gasped theatrically. _"How did you know I threw that game?"_

Bella nuzzled Rosalie's neck as she muttered _"not telling."_

"_No seriously!"_ This time Rosalie _was_ serious. _"How did you know?"_

"_Because you'd already answered like five of the same questions correctly other times we played. Did you think I wouldn't notice, Miss Hale?"_ Bella caught her eyes and batted her own lashes.

"_Those questions were from games we played in like, May or something. That's a creepy memory you have there, rain man…" _ Rosalie teased her and forced her arms under Bella's warm, _still dry, _lower back.

"_Ugh Rose!"_ She shrieked again, giggling. _"I'm not rain man!"_

"_Oh yeah?"_ Rosalie growled as she pecked Bella on the lips. _"Because I'm pretty sure when you went inside your dad told me ALL ABOUT your super high IQ, and all of your time in gifted programs, and how whip smart you were. I had to agree of course…"_

"_Ugh, I can't believe he told you that."_ Bella rolled her eyes as Rosalie smirked triumphantly. _"Well guess what Rose, Emmett told us ALL ABOUT your IQ when you went in to get us more drinks, so ha!"_

"_Oh come on, you're bluffing Bella."_ Rosalie's smirk wavered as she tried to look serious. A few delicate fingers tickling her ribs made that almost impossible, and Rosalie started to giggle as well. _"Stop it, Bella, you know I hate to be tickled!"_

"_Oh really, dish-it-but-can't-take-it, can you? Miss 162…"_

"_I wouldn't mess with the stronger girl that has you pinned to a beach blanket, Miss 150…"_

Bella squirmed, and Rosalie began to laugh harder as her previous words began to resonate in her mind. "_What?"_ Bella giggled as she nipped Rosalie's collarbone.

"_Aw, Bella, if we weren't so hot, this whole making out after talking about IQs thing would be total nerd love…"_ Rosalie teased as she took Bella's sensitive earlobe between her lips.

"_Aw, Rose, did you just call this love?"_ Bella ran her fingertips teasingly up Rosalie's toned back.

"_IF we weren't so hot, Bella, IF being the operative word."_ Rosalie let her tongue trace the shell of a perfect ear.

"_Ooooh Rose,"_ Bella purred between giggles, "_vocabulary words like 'operative' get me sooooo wet…"_

Rosalie moved her thigh in-between Bella's and began to whisper her old SAT prep study list of vocab words into the girl's ear in a husky tone. _"Oooh baby, oooh baby"_ Bella giggled as she let her hands wander.

"_You want bigger ones?" _ Rosalie purred seductively.

"_Oh yeah baby, give me the biggest ones you've got,"_ Bella whispered back as she gave Rosalie her most dramatic moan. Rosalie grinned broadly. Yes she had missed this. She had really, really missed this.

They spent the better part of the next two hours entwined on the blanket, giggling and whispering the biggest, most obscure words they could think of to each other in between long kisses, not leaving until the sun was so low in the sky that both of them began to shiver.

###

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: No ownership except for the story.

A/N: One more chapter until things get dirty again. On a side note, I've been getting a lot of private messages from people who like the story but are really concerned that it doesn't have nearly enough reviews, so I just want to let them know that a) I'm really glad you like the story, but also b) please don't make me feel so bad about not having enough reviews; it's kind of discouraging as a writer. I TOTALLY appreciate your concern, don't get me wrong. But I didn't think the review thing was an issue until I started getting all the private messages. It's like telling a guy who didn't realize that size matters that yes, not only does it matter, but also that he happens to be hung like a hamster. I know you mean well, but it just makes me feel bad and discouraged about a story that I was actually really into writing. Sorry, I don't mean to complain, but those messages have really bummed me out. Review if you like it; don't review – I don't know. I can't help that my review count is hung like a hamster, so I'm sure I'll piss off those people by writing this, but I'm sorry; please stop asking me why I don't have enough reviews, it just makes me feel shitty.

###

At about 6:00pm, when neither girl could stand the cold any longer, they packed up their things and headed towards the car.

"_You know Rose, I CAN carry something; I'm not a total weakling, did you know that?" _Bella griped as she followed Rosalie over the sand.

"_Oh believe me, I know; if memory serves, I believe you've forced me up against more than one parked car in the past few months." _Rosalie looked back at the beautiful brunette, who was struggling a bit to maneuver through the thick sand in the havianas Rosalie had lent her. Rosalie gave Bella her usual smirk.

"_God Rose, your hair is so blonde right now it's practically white! Are you sure you're not from California?" _Bella teased her as she jogged to catch up.

"_Ew Bella, don't even say that!" _Rosalie quipped sarcastically. _"The only Californian I like is Snoop Dogg."_

"_YOU like Snoop Dogg?" _Bella sounded genuinely surprised.

"_Hell yes, you don't, slowpoke?" _Rosalie had already reached the pavement and offered Bella a hand, pulling her up the small drop between turf and beach.

"_No, I like him just fine." _Bella swatted Rosalie's hand away after she reached the cement. _"You liking him, on the other hand…"_

"_I guess I'm just full of surprises," _ Rosalie snarked sarcastically, but with a full grin. Her stomach rumbled and she mentally chided herself as she realized that she'd been starving the other girl for the majority of the day. _"You hungry?"_

Bella ran up from behind and yanked the beach bag out of Rosalie's arms, exclaiming: _"Ha! Its mine now, and don't even think of trying to get it back from me! I will be carrying our things for the next 25 feet until we reach your fancy little hybrid." _She jumped out of reach as Rosalie made a grab for the bag. _"I don't think so…"_

Rosalie chuckled. _"Bella, you're skinny as a rail, can I feed you now or what?"_

"_Yes please," _the smaller girl chirped. She paused for a second so that Rosalie could catch up, and quickly captured her by the waist with her free arm. Bella leaned in and kissed her tenderly. _"Feed me."_

_###_

They'd been at a little beach in Southampton where Rosalie knew of a few secret parking spots by the bathing corp where a permit wasn't necessary. Rosalie hadn't wanted to waste any time getting in the sun, and East Hampton was still about a half an hour away. She drove slowly, conscious of her gorgeous passenger's awe as she took in the large homes they passed on their way out of town. _"This place is surreal, Rose." _Bella whispered in amazement.

"_Well don't get too excited about dinner, nothing fancy tonight." _Rosalie had been craving one last summer lobster, and she didn't have much of a tolerance for the ridiculous prices and pretentious atmosphere of the majority of the eateries on the east end. Instead, she took Bella to a dive on the outskirts of Southampton, tucked into a slightly run down marina.

"_The Lobster Inn?" _Bella questioned as they pulled into the parking lot. _"Little lobsters sleep here?"_

Rosalie simply chuckled and shook her head as she led Bella to the entrance.

"_Okay, I'll admit it, that was a pretty lame joke," _Bella huffed as she grabbed Rosalie's hand. She wove their fingers together and gave Rosalie what the blonde was sure was a death glare.

"_What?" _Rosalie chuckled. _"I didn't say anything – I like your jokes."_

Bella raised her eyebrows and dug her nails into Rosalie's palm. Rosalie hoped the girl wasn't actually trying to inflict pain, because if so, it _really_ wasn't working.

"_Okay, okay, that wasn't one of your best jokes, I'll give you that." _Bella appeared satisfied and pecked Rosalie on the cheek. _"God Bella, I think a baby bunny could squeeze my hand harder than that…" _Rosalie chuckled as Bella scowled and started to squeeze her hand tightly. _Really_ tightly. _"Okay ow, you win, ow!" _Rosalie yanked her hand away and blew on it dramatically. _"Man you are one mean little baby bunny…" _She huffed. Bella smiled triumphantly and waltzed inside.

###

They had a wonderful time at dinner; teasing and flirting, and giggling as Rosalie tried to teach Bella how to eat a lobster while Bella played an often very aggressive game of footsie with her under the table of the booth. Bella threw a world-class fit when the check came, absolutely insisting that she treat Rosalie. Rosalie put up a fuss but, realizing it was a losing battle, acquiesced after stipulating that this would be the only thing Bella would be allowed to pay for. Secretly, Rosalie was not only touched that it was always so important to Bella to do this type of thing, but also thrilled, because she knew that this would be far and away the cheapest meal of the weekend. She'd even gotten Bella to agree to not so much as glance at future checks, which meant that Rosalie could, by sacrificing this $60 meal to the beautiful brunette, now get away with the $600 meal she'd planned for following night. Without Bella's usual, ridiculous (in Rosalie's eyes) theatrics, for once. _"Lose the battle, win the war," _Rosalie had quipped as she closed the passenger door of the Lexus behind Bella.

As they made their way through Bridgehampton and Waterville and into East Hampton, Rosalie marveled at Bella's almost child-like wonder as she peered out her window at the sights they passed. She wore the same outfit she had that day at Coney Island; comfortably worn, short white shorts and a muted grey Florida Gators t-shirt. Rosalie loved that outfit on her; the t-shirt must have been a child's size, because although it wasn't obscenely tight, it was comfortably fitted. Her chocolate eyes sparkled every time she'd periodically turn from her post at the car window to smile coyly at Rosalie. After a quick drive-by of Grey Gardens at Bella's insistence, Rosalie finally turned her SUV into the long driveway to the beach house. Bella had been thoroughly disappointed to find out that Rosalie's family had not really known the Bouviers in more than just a passing fashion. Rosalie had no intention of telling her the truth; that at the time of Grey Gardens, her own family had been so absurdly snobby that they would never have kept company with Catholics – 'not the sort of people we would know-' the expression her maternal grandmother and namesake, Rosalie Lillian Morton, had always been so fond of saying. And Rosalie flat out lied when Bella asked her if she belonged to "the country club where they still don't let Jewish people join;" it was called the Maidstone, and Rosalie's family had belonged there practically since its inception, but she herself spent little time at the prestigious association. Rosalie was hardly an idealist, but the discriminatory membership practices of her family's club still managed to leave her cold.

Bella's eyes grew impossibly wider as they made their way down the long gravel driveway towards the ocean, passing two large mansions on either side of the private lane before parking in the massive, circular driveway of a house on the ocean that was so large that it was, frankly, obscene. _"Jesus, Rosalie, tell me this isn't where we're staying; it's bigger than a Hilton!" _Bella had exclaimed. Rosalie pointed her in the direction of a narrow path surrounded on both sides by beach roses and told her that, _"no, no Hilton, we go that way." _Their destination, a small oceanfront cottage built on stilts literally on top of the dunes (constructed well before zoning laws had made building in such close proximity to the beach illegal in the 1950s), was not visible from the driveway. Rosalie grabbed Bella's duffel bag before the girl could protest, but Bella jumped in front of her and snatched Rosalie's own (significantly larger) luggage before the elegant blonde could stop her, insisting that "_it was only fair" _that she be allowed to carry Rosalie's bags, since Rosalie had absolutely insisted on carrying hers. Rosalie relented, and they made their way down the sandy path.

###

"_God Rosalie, is there ANYTHING you own that isn't monogrammed?"_ Bella quipped sarcastically as she eyed the initials on the bags. _"I mean, is it THAT hard to remember your own name?" _Rosalie just chuckled. _"I'm surprised you haven't monogrammed your thongs by now…" _The pretty brunette rolled her eyes.

"_Well at least you know I won't get lost, right?" _Rosalie parried back as they proceeded to the beach; the path so narrow that they had to stay in single file. Bella chuckled at her comment, and announced that she would just have to get her monogrammed thongs for Christmas.

After about 300ft of narrow, sandy pathway, the thick rosebushes opened up onto a clearing where a charming, two story grey clapboard cottage stood. "_Oh Rose, it's really adorable – this is your cousin's house, right?" _Bella ran a delicate hand up the railing of the small staircase that led to the landing outside the front door (as the house was on cement pilings about four feet above the ground; hurricane protection.)

"_Yes," _Rosalie lied as she rummaged through her tote bag for keys, _"It belongs to my cousins, the Boyds. We might run into a few of them this weekend…" _In reality, this was just the guest cottage of that giant main house Bella had earlier likened to a Hilton, and that giant house belonged to Rosalie; inherited from her maternal grandmother when she was only eight. She'd been renting it to the same family every year since then, but she kept the guest house on the dunes for her own personal use.

Rosalie finally found her house keys at the bottom of her overstuffed bag (Rosalie had a habit of over packing. _Severely. _She liked having options…) She unlocked the door and held it for Bella, who gasped as she walked inside. The cottage was very small; comprised solely of a recently renovated kitchen, a great room that was two stories high and acted as the living room, a master bedroom, and a sleeping loft accessed by ladder from the main room. The exposed wooden beams in the great room were lined with small, triangular navy and red flags, with the occasional yellow mixed in. A giant, white duck cloth, overstuffed couch faced an ancient, but massive stone fireplace which functioned as the center point of the house - a fireplace that had been the only part of the house that had survived the great hurricane of '38. Inviting, equally overstuffed armchairs in wide blue and white striped canvas framed either side of the couch, which backed up to bookshelves that covered the entire, massive left wall of the great room, and were filled with ancient volumes, old photographs, a few seashells, and an impressive collection of red and white coral - all of it displayed in no particular order. Un-framed paintings covered some of the books, affixed to the front of the shelves by single nails to catch wood frames that anchored the raw canvas – all paintings that either Rosalie or one of her relatives had painted, but she wasn't going to tell Bella this.

The entire cabin was awash in white and varying shades of blue. A strange coffee table, actually the stump of a giant sequoia that had been polished and turned upside-down to make a flat surface and mounted with iron feet, took up a significant portion of the living room's real estate, and was covered in various coffee table books. The small powder room, and then the kitchen, were to the right of the doorway where Bella stood. The bedroom, also to the right but on the other side of the grand, central fireplace and chimney, wasn't visible from the door. Bella dropped Rosalie's bags and ran over to the far wall of the great room, that wasn't really a solid wall at all, but actually just a wall of sliding glass doors exposing the interior to the view of massive waves that crashed only a handful of yards farther out. _"Rosalie…"_ Bella breathed. _"This is heaven…"_

Rosalie dropped the bag she held as well, and walked over to where Bella stood. _"Come on," _she smiled proudly as she unlocked the glass doors. _"Let's get some air in here while I give you the tour." _She slid the door open and motioned for Bella to step out onto the deck, which was as large as the footprint of the entire interior of the house and bordered on all sides by wooden railings with built-in seating. It sat on massive stilts and pushed far out over the dunes, almost to the point where the dunes ended and the beach sand began, about 20ft below it.

To the right of the main glass doors was a small pool built down into the deck, and past that some chaise lounges with thick blue and white striped cushions. As Bella wandered towards them, she saw additional sliding glass doors that also connected the master bedroom to the deck. She peered through those doors into the bedroom, where an imposing, dark mahogany, king sized sleigh bed took up the bulk of the room, framed on both sides by bedside tables in matching dark wood and holding very expensive looking blue and white Oriental porcelain lamps on top of them.

Rosalie came behind Bella and began to provide commentary. _"The bed is ridiculous, I know, but it's an heirloom that's been in our family since the 1500s, and no one knew where else to put the damn thing. Those lamps are old as dinosaurs as well; they're ginger jars from some dynasty around 500AD – my grandmother converted them to lamps, which is pretty but it absolutely ruined their value."_

"_I think they're beautiful…" _Bella breathed. She turned back towards the ocean. _"And Rose, is this a plunge pool or something? I feel like I'm in a magazine…" _

"_Actually this is really cool, I bought it when I was 13 – " _Bella looked at her curiously "_-as a gift for my cousins," _Rosalie continued without batting an eye. _"Here, check it out," _Rosalie darted over to a panel hidden discretely behind one of the many blue glazed urns on the deck that held giant bushes of lavender, a plant that had taken Rosalie _years_ to get to grow on the deck. Thanking God that someone had come by that morning to clean the pool and the house to perfection, Rosalie flipped a switch and the pool started to churn wildly.

"_Cool," _Bella sighed. _"What is it, exactly?"_

"_It's one of those water treadmill pool things like you see ads for in the back of magazines." _Rosalie stated proudly. _"It sends a really strong current out of the left side, see?" _She took Bella's hand gingerly and led her over, bending down and placing their joined hands in the rushing water. Bella yelped and giggled as the water splashed on her.

"_Rosalie!"_

Rosalie laughed and wiped the droplets of water off Bella's legs. _"Okay that was an accident, see, I'm covered too!" _Bella looked suspiciously up at Rosalie, whose toned abs were glistening, exposed because Rosalie had left her light blue oxford shirt unbuttoned. Her tiny white skirt was actually almost completely drenched as well. _"Anyway, you can swim laps in it, isn't that genius?"_

"_Genius," _Bella muttered sarcastically as she dipped her hand back in the water and splashed Rosalie as hard as she could. Rosalie shrieked and continued to laugh her melodious laugh at the girl.

"_Does that count as part of the payback you told me about earlier?" _Rosalie grinned questioningly.

"_Nope, no way." _Bella stood up and crossed her arms defiantly. _"Come on, show me the rest of the house." _Rosalie swatted her behind playfully as she ushered her back into the living room.

"_I didn't know you were a sailor, Rose," _Bella observed as she admired the rows of flags hanging from the rafters.

"_I didn't know YOU were a sailor, Bella," _Rosalie countered.

"_And just how do you know that?" _Bella's voice was almost seductive, but Rosalie wasn't sure if perhaps that was just her imagination; maybe Bella was simply hoarse from shrieking.

"_Because no one who doesn't sail knows what these flags mean. I can't believe you sail, why didn't you ever tell me, we could have been on the boat this entire summer?" _Rosalie was delighted.

"_Why didn't you ever tell me YOU sailed, oh mysterious one?" _Bella countered. Rosalie rolled her eyes. _"God, this place is awesome, I love the way it's decorated." _Rosalie snorted at Bella's comment as the brunette changed the subject.

"_Oh God Bella, are you kidding, it's a waspy nightmare! And trust me, it's never been decorated, just maybe fine tuned on occasion. Here, come see the kitchen, it's just been re-done, and then we go can shower and stuff…"_

_###_

Rosalie led Bella on a tour of the rest of the house, proudly guiding Bella through the details of the recently renovated kitchen (she'd put in nice white marble counters and a new range and sub-zero, plus a dishwasher for the first time in the cabin's history, and new upholstery for the cushions in the built-in breakfast nook); she showed her the rainfall shower and the soaking tub she'd installed in the master bath, and gleefully dragged her up to the sleeping loft above the kitchen and bedroom, where she'd had two sets of bunk beds built into the walls on either side of a giant window (slanted, just as the roof was) that looked out onto the main 'Hilton' house and its extensive gardens. An identical window mirrored it on the slanted roof above the bookshelves in the great room. Bella actually delighted in the idea of climbing a ladder to get to the loft, and suggested that Rosalie should have her cousins install a slide or fireman's pole for an easier escape. Rosalie laughed; she loved the way this beautiful girl thought, as much as she could understand what on earth her Bella was _actually_ thinking, of course.

"_Wow Rose, you're so proud of this place you'd think it was actually yours…" _Bella eyed her suspiciously as she spoke.

"_Well duh, I planned and orchestrated the entire kitchen and bath renovation for Aunt Patricia, of course I'm proud." _

"_Oh, I didn't realize you'd done that, how could you forget to tell me – oh that's right, you never tell me anything!" _Bella rolled her own beautiful eyes and grinned as she wrapped her arms around Rosalie's waist and nipped at her chin playfully. Rosalie smirked back, partially because she didn't even _have_ an Aunt Patricia. Bella leaned up and captured Rosalie's full lips, pressing softly. _"Thank you so much for bringing me here, Rose," _she whispered into her. _"It's breathtaking." _

Rosalie was barely able to respond with her own breathy _"thank you for coming" _before Bella's soft, persistent tongue rendered her speechless. Rosalie met hers with her own, and they kissed slowly and tenderly. Rosalie tucked invisible strands of chestnut hair behind Bella's ears, reveling in the sensation of the soft tendrils as she ran her fingers through them and matched Bella's slow, deep movements within her own sensitive tongue. Bella tucked both of her hands behind the back pockets of Rosalie's skirt and began to knead at the flesh her fingers found. Rosalie shivered at the contact, and Bella took her reaction as an invitation. The smaller girl began to kiss her hungrily, and groaned as Rosalie raked her nails down Bella's back and cupped her bottom. She lifted her up and held her, their lips meeting with urgency as Bella straddled her waist and began to grind into her sensually. Rosalie pulled her in close, holding her tightly as she walked them over to the couch, deftly maneuvering past the oddly shaped coffee table.

She leaned over, gently placing Bella down flat on the seat cushions and climbing eagerly on top of her as their tongues dueled and Bella reached up to cup Rosalie's full breast. Rosalie groaned and slid her hand down between Bella's legs, marveling at the physical reaction the girl's moan gave her as she began to rub Bella through her shorts. Bella kept her legs wrapped around Rosalie's waist and used them to pull Rosalie into her, the blonde's hand sending warmth through both of their bodies as they rubbed against it. _"Oh fuck Rosalie, I've missed you so fucking much," _Bella groaned as Rosalie pressed hard against her center and snaked her body against the smaller girl as she rocked into her.

Rosalie was about to unfasten the button of Bella's shorts when a cheerful "yoo hoo" stilled her movements. Rosalie jumped off Bella and headed towards the front door as Bella stood up and straightened her rumpled clothing.

"_Welcome, welcome, gorgeous creature!" _A bubbly voice rang through the house and Rosalie uttered a groan of her own as she opened the door for her neighbor, muttering "_fucking cockblock" _under her breath before plastering a graceful smile on her finely sculpted features.

"_Anne!" _She exclaimed warmly as a tall, 50-something woman with a chin-length blonde bob and an outrageously preppy pink and green printed polo and white cropped pants barged through the door Rosalie held open. She smiled brightly at Rosalie and handed her a bottle of champagne with curly pink and green ribbon festooned at its neck.

"_Oh Rosalie, it's so wonderful to see you; I was absolutely thrilled when I spotted your little Lexus in the drive," _she bubbled as she thrust the bottle at Rosalie and smiled in Bella's direction.

"_Anne, Anne, Anne," _Rosalie chided her playfully as she admired the bottle. _"You shouldn't have."_

"_Oh but Rosalie, it's the very least I could do, considering that I ran into that dreadful Georgia Petersen at Nello the other night and she told me about that little 'offer' she'd made to you in May…" _Rosalie smiled insincerely back as she quickly formulated a plan. _"Dear, you know you could have charged us that amount, it wouldn't have been any inconvenience, you are just the dearest land-"_

"_Rats, Bella I think I hear my phone ringing from where I left it on the porch, can you go grab it please?" _Rosalie turned and smiled at the flustered and now slightly confused brunette, urging her with her eyes.

"_Sure," _Bella chirped as she trotted off to the back deck.

Rosalie leaned in closely and spoke in the older woman's ear:

"_Anne, she thinks this cabin belongs to my cousins, and she doesn't even know that I have anything to do with the big house, so play along, okay?" _Rosalie spoke under her breath.

"_Of course dear, even though I can't imagine why on earth you wouldn't want people to know…" _the woman whispered back as quietly as she could, which was not very quiet at all, but luckily Bella was still out on the deck. _"Rosalie who is that girl – she is GORGEOUS!" _Anne continued to whisper-shout.

"_I know," _Rosalie responded, her whisper far lower and more subtle. _"She doesn't know that much about my background or my um, financials, so please help me keep it that way." _The woman nodded seriously. _"How's your brother?" _ Rosalie continued to whisper.

"_Holed up in Vermont as usual," _Anne looked suddenly very sad. _"Rosalie, I don't know what he, what I, would do without you. If Peter's miserly ass would just drop dead of a heart attack one of these days, I could take the burden off you and-"_

"_No, no," _Rosalie cut her off. _"It's no burden, let's not wish death upon your husband, okay? I know he's a pain in the butt but I think you might actually miss him, and trust me, your brother is no burden at all."_

Anne patted Rosalie's cheek affectionately and returned to normal volume as she watched Bella return to the living room. Rosalie, who had her back to Bella, still sensed that the girl was again inside. _"Bella, I want you to meet a very old friend." _Rosalie smiled kindly at Bella.

"_Anne, may I introduce you to Bella Swan?" _Rosalie was a stickler for formality when it came to introductions or interactions with her parent's set. Especially with introductions; one always presented the younger person for the elder's inspection first. _Always._

"_Bella, this is Anne Gregory. We share a driveway." _Rosalie winked at Bella knowingly, and was pleased when Bella immediately understood that this woman resided in the 'Hilton-like' behemoth next door.

"_Anne Vandeveer Gregory." _As she smiled in the lovely brunette's direction,the woman emphasized her middle name, although this would have meant nothing to Bella. _"And may I say what a pleasure it is to meet you."_

"_Pleased to meet you as well," _Bella responded politely. _"Your house is lovely."_

"_So it is!" _Anne exclaimed, laughing brightly, much to Bella's confusion (which, Rosalie noted, she masked well.) _"Yes, my house," _she winked at Rosalie, _"is truly lovely, thank you for noticing."_

Rosalie wrapped her arm around Bella's shoulder and pulled her close, whispering in her ear audibly enough for Anne to hear _"modesty is not her best quality" _as she winked back at the patrician older woman, causing her to chuckle some more.

"_Bella, I must say you are quite beautiful yourself. What gorgeous eyes you have!" _Bella blushed furiously, her mouth agape. She was absolutely terrible at receiving compliments.

"_Yup, she definitely is, Anne," _Rosalie quickly stepped in to take the pressure off of her girl. Luckily, the older woman was quite astute at reading people, and, sensing Bella's discomfort, quickly changed the subject.

"_Now Rosalie aside from plying you with champagne, I came to make sure that you'll be in attendance tonight, yes? The party already started twenty minutes ago, and we will head to the beach in about an hour to start the bonfire. So you have until 9 to get that perfect little behind of yours in gear, and then I expect to see you." _Rosalie smiled flirtatiously at her and winked.

"_Wouldn't miss it!"_

"_You'd better not, or I'll tell beautiful Bella here ALL your secrets. And I'm already on my third glass of pinot, so you know I can't be trusted…" _Anne abruptly turned on her heels and headed out the door, chirping _"ta-ta" _like a cartoon character as she bounded down the steps.

###

"_Party?" _Bella looked at Rosalie quizzically, but then her eyes fell upon the bottle of champagne Rosalie was holding. _"Cristal? Are you kidding me? CRISTAL?" _She started jumping up and down like a little kid.

"_Have you ever had it?" _Rosalie smirked.

"_Yeah, um, NO, are you crazy? This is like a $400 bottle of champagne!" _Bella squealed as she cradled the bottle like an infant.

"_Well then you better get that sucker in the fridge ASAP." _Rosalie ordered, following closely behind Bella as she headed for the kitchen. Rosalie, although usually shy to show off her wealth around Bella, couldn't resist this one opportunity, remembering how much the girl had told her she loved champagne during some late night conversation in May or June. She tried to keep a straight face as Bella wrestled the heavy fridge door open.

"_HOLY SHIT ROSALIE! Your cousins keep THIS MUCH fancy champagne in their FRIDGE?" _Bella began to count the bottles under her breath, gasping as she read their labels. There were five bottles in addition to the one she was about to add; a '96 Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne, two Le Grande Dames (Rosalie couldn't remember what vintage she'd requested), a '98 Dom, and a '93 Cristal.

"_Rosalie, you need to tell your cousins that you really shouldn't store good champagne in a cold fridge for more than a week, it compromises the integrity of the vintage." _Bella looked serious and pleased at the same time as she took in the surprise on Rosalie's face. _"What?" _She questioned before Rosalie could speak. _"I happen to like champagne..."_

"_Well then I have some good news, nerd." _Rosalie's grin had turned into a real shit-eater. _"I had the maid put these in the fridge this morning; they are for our consumption only, my fancy friend."_

"_Rosalie," _Bella smacked her hand. _"You can NOT spend this kind of money." _Bella was serious.

"_Relax, I got all of them as gifts," _Rosalie lied, praying that the delivery service hadn't left a receipt anywhere. _"Besides, can't I at least try to woo you a little bit?" _

"_Woo me?" _Bella smirked.

"_What?" _Rosalie snapped, frustrated that Bella always made doing nice things for her so difficult. _"You're MY guest this weekend, this house belongs to MY family, and bringing you out here was MY idea. So I'm going to court you and 'woo' you whether you like it or not, and if you don't want to drink the champagne, you can just sip tap water and watch me get hammered." _She glared at Bella icily.

"_Okay," _Bella spoke softly as she started to rub Rosalie's abs, still exposed through her unbuttoned blouse. _"Woo me by force, huh? I guess I have no choice in the matter. And don't glare at me – I'm not used to people doing nice things for me, okay?"_

"_Okay," _Rosalie consented, and let Bella press a kiss to her swollen lips. _"Because I really want to do nice things for you."_

"_As long as you'll let me do nice things for you too, Rose." _Bella said earnestly.

Their lips met again, and they kissed tenderly for a few moments before hopping in the shower to get ready for the party.

###

Rosalie preened in front of the mirror, allowing Bella the luxury having the master bath to herself so the smaller girl could get ready in private. And also allowing Rosalie to focus on her appearance and the upcoming evening, since during the first two minutes she'd tried to share the large bathroom with Bella, she had found it almost torturously impossible not to attack the girl. It was _not _very easy to concentrate with Bella, all full lips and rosy cheeks and slender limbs, sitting next to her running her fingers through her long, dripping wet brown hair. Clad only in a short white towel. Rosalie had almost snapped the liner brush she'd been holding clear in two when Bella accidently dropped her towel and blushed furiously as she tried to cover herself.

_Yes, _Rosalie mused, _the powder room is a much better option._

She put the finishing touches on her eye makeup, applied sparingly in subtle earth tones on the delicate lids that covered her shocking green orbs. She dabbed a bit of gloss on her lips (still slightly swollen and pink-red from kissing the gorgeous brunette) and sat back to admire her work. She looked fresh and natural; pores invisible, an even, golden tan; and just the slightest hint of pink emphasizing her striking cheekbones. Her makeup was expertly applied and barely noticeable to anyone but the most trained eye, but still brilliantly highlighted her already quite spectacular features. Her sun-kissed blonde hair was pulled into a messy pony tail, and its slight natural wave only enhanced her beauty. She was simply dressed, as this was a very casual party and Rosalie had no intentions of looking like she'd even bothered to try. Her tight, cropped skinny white jeans hit at the mid-point of two slender but perfectly sculpted calves. The waist rose extremely low, exposing the tops of her well-defined pelvic bones. She had on a fitted cotton roll-neck sweater in deep navy, and, if she raised her arms above her head, a thin slip of her tightly toned mid section, tanned to golden perfection, was visible.

_Perfect, _she thought, _there's no way Bella won't like this. Unless what if she only likes me in dresses; she hardly ever sees me in sweaters, there's no cleavage, what if- _she grimaced as she willed her inner monologue to stay on mute like she'd intended.

Rosalie stood up and checked every angle of her appearance for flaws. Finding none, she slid on her watch (a large gold tank francaise she'd bought herself on her 18th birthday), popped a pair of sizable two carat diamond studs in each ear, and grabbed the dark brown studded alligator cuff that her brother had gifted her last year. She ran her fingers over the two gold, square shaped studs that protruded from the cuff, and pushed her sleeves up casually.

###

If she thought she looked good; Bella looked good times one thousand. She was simply dressed as well, in low-slung and quite tight distressed skinny jeans that she'd cuffed at the ankle, and a fitted blue and white checked flannel shirt, cut almost western style. And by fitted, she meant that the shirt was skin tight and unbuttoned to almost the top of the bra. Her skin was flawless and dewy, her rosy lips irresistibly plump, and her makeup-free eyes half lidded in that maddeningly sexy way they'd get in the evenings. Her gorgeous chestnut hair cascaded down her shoulders, naturally straight as it was, but full of body.

Rosalie gulped as she pictured herself running a hand through that beautiful hair as a naked Bella rode her fingers. _"Say something!" _Bella's command snapped her out of her quite explicit day dream.

"_You look insane, Bella." _Rosalie breathed.

"_I look insane? Like a crazy person? Is the shirt that bad? Wait, what do you mean?" _Bella played with the hem of the shirt and bit her lip, looking extremely nervous. Rosalie would have chuckled at her mis-interpretation, but she was too in awe of how hot Bella looked in that simple outfit.

"_Um, you uh, you-" _Rosalie stuttered, an extremely unusual occurrence. "-_You look insanely hot, that's what I mean, just, God can we just stay in?"_

"_No, I mean yes, I mean-" _Bella was stuttering too, not that Rosalie noticed. _"Rosalie, snap out of it!" _She clapped her hands in front of Rosalie's face, causing the taller blonde to jump.

"_Oh shit, uh, sorry," _Rosalie willed herself to regain composure. She didn't want to spend another night doing calculus in her head; she knew she had to pull herself together. After drawing a large breath, she glided over to Bella and linked their arms. _"To the fridge," _she ordered, sounding much more like the collected, cool customer she always tried so hard to be.

Bella took her arm and let her lead them to the kitchen. _"It's already 9:20, are you sure we should drink here first?" _She questioned with those big brown eyes of hers.

"_Oh no, we're bringing a bottle with us. I'm not letting a girl as pretty as you drink some chardonnay or rum punch swill." _Rosalie grabbed one of the Le Grande Dams and tucked it under her arm, leading Bella out by the hand. Bella grasped the crocodile cuff on Rosalie's wrist, slowing her down. _"In to S&M, are we?" _Bella smirked as she teased. _'What the fuck is this, Rose?" _She raised an eyebrow playfully.

"_Oh shut up, it's Hermes for Christssake!" _Rosalie yelped as Bella swatted at her, and she grabbed the smaller girl by the wrist and yanked her in the direction of the door. Rosalie turned her head to catch one last glimpse of Bella in the light before venturing down the darkened path to the ocean, where she could hear that the party was already going full swing in front of the main house. As she took in her perfect girl, she noticed how nervous Bella looked. She smiled at her affectionately and pulled her in, kissing her forehead and squeezing her hand. _"You really do look so beautiful, Bella."_

_###_

The path to the shore, although unlit, was easy to follow; the bonfire ahead acted as a welcome beacon. Rosalie could follow this path blind-folded; she'd traversed it so many times, but Bella had a slight predilection for clumsiness, and so Rosalie held her hand tightly as she guided her towards the beach.

The party was indeed already very much in full-swing, with chaises and beach chairs scattered around the perimeter of the fire. About 100 or so guests mingled and drank as they enjoyed the Gregory's traditional end-of-summer fete. A photographer approached the girls, and Rosalie slung her arm and the bottle of bubbly around Bella's shoulders protectively as she kissed her fondly on the forehead. _"Who hires a professional photographer for a bonfire on the beach?" _ Bella whispered in Rosalie's ear as they made their way into the throng of (unbeknownst to Bella) socialites.

"_Ridiculous people, that's who." _Rosalie whispered back at her.

The first hour of the party was uneventful, with both girls laughing and chatting easily as they took swigs from their shared bottle. Rosalie made Bella continuously giggle as she whispered stories of botched face-lifts or illicit affairs about the people she'd introduced Bella to in her delicate ear, in between engaging in amicable conversation with random guests. Rosalie's second cousin Andrew came bounding over and caught Rosalie in a bear hug before honing in on Bella. Once she was sure Bella was comfortably rapt in conversation with her gregarious younger cousin, Rosalie wandered over to finally give audience to the myriad number of her parent's friends that had been trying to get her attention. After about twenty minutes of banal chatter, she realized that Bella and Andrew had disappeared.

###

"_Oh look, it's the golden child of the Morton clan," _ a familiar voice boomed (Morton was her mother's surname) and Rosalie immediately recognized it as Andrew's brother, her less favorable cousin Blackey. _"What up cuz?" _He snarked as he threw an arm over Rosalie's shoulder, which she immediately shrugged off.

"_Where did Andrew go?" _Rosalie questioned coolly, preferring to get directly to the point rather than indulge her obnoxious relative in pleasantries.

"_Hello to you too. He went over to see Rigg," _Blackey pointed to a group sitting in a circle on some lounge chairs far from the fire in the opposite direction. _"Brought that hot girlfriend of yours with him." _Blackey cracked open a beer and fumbled in his pockets.

"_Cigarette," _Rosalie commanded him, and the younger boy immediately obliged, handing Rosalie a parliament and lighting it for her.

"_I have to tell you, Rosalie, she's absolutely stunning," _Blackey spoke confidently as he lit his own cigarette.

"_Would you expect anything less from me?" _Rosalie responded, ice in her voice.

"_Way to take a compliment, Rosalie." _Rosalie took a deep drag and turned to face her cousin, who she'd been standing side by side with.

"_I'm happy to take a compliment from someone I consider to have value. You," _She ashed on the boy's exposed foot; everyone at the party, including Rosalie and Bella, was wearing flip-flops. The boy twitched his leg. _"Are not one of those 'someones'." _Rosalie took another deep drag, her face emotionless.

"_Jesus Rosalie, what the hell is your problem?" _Blackey whined.

"_Tommy Bennett told me about the other day with his brother." _Blackey's face dropped instantly. Tommy Bennett was one of Rosalie's closest, and _only_, real friends, and his beloved, and _only_, half-brother Pierce had Down's syndrome. Tommy had almost come to blows with Blackey and Rosalie's other cousin Rigg when he caught them making fun of Pierce as the boy collected shopping carts in the parking lot of the A&P where he worked. Pierce was crying, and the only thing that prevented Tommy from attacking Rosalie's cousins was the presence of two lazy police officers a few yards away. _"Blackey," _Rosalie sneered, "_if you ever do that again and I find out," _she dropped her lit cigarette into his freshly opened beer, "_I will knock every one of those veneers out of your goddamn mouth. You'll have nothing but gums left, which will be convenient since you already suck so much dick." _

"_Sorry Rosalie," _the 27-year old mumbled. _"I was fucked up, it won't happen again. Tell Tommy I'm sorry?"_

"_Tell him yourself," _Rosalie spat as she walked off to find Bella.

###

Rosalie pushed her way through the crowd and approached the group of boys (and one beautiful girl) huddled together about 100 yards from the fire, on the beach directly in front of her guest house. As she sauntered over, acting as it she was in no hurry, a long wolf whistle pierced the din of the party behind them. _"Well if it isn't the only cousin you can legally masturbate to. Didn't you hear? Rosalie you're so hot they decided to amend the constitution to allow familial jerking-off to your image!" _The voice came from a handsome, twenty something man with a mop of blonde hair and Rosalie's same, piercing green eyes.

"_Ew Rigg, don't you think constantly hitting on me is a little gross? Emmett sure does…" _This silenced him. Rigg and Emmett were the same age, but Rosalie's brother had about 7 inches and 75lbs on his useless cousin.

"_Rosalie, come smoke!" _Rigg gestured towards the bowl in her cousin Andrew's hand. She sneered at both boys. _"Come on Rosalie, just one hit? Your hot-ass friend Bella here has already had six, and she's a champ!" _Rigg reached over and high-fived a very stoned looking Bella.

_Six fucking hits? _Rosalie mused angrily. _You've got to be kidding me… _Rosalie's cousin Rigg had done nothing after four years at Dartmouth but smoke weed, drink beer, play video games, smoke weed, nap, and then smoke some more weed. He even grew it himself, and his strain was the strongest Rosalie had ever had, which was saying a lot considering the activities and experiences of her younger years. One hit of Rigg's stuff would send you reeling, and her deadbeat cousin had just allowed Bella to take six? This did _not_ bode well with Rosalie, and she made her anger known.

"_You let her take six hits of that shit?" _She snarled.

"_Yeah Bella here's my girl, she pulled that shit HARD!" _Rigg held Bella's almost completely limp arm up and waved it over her head. The beautiful brunette looked absolutely gone; Rosalie didn't blame her and she certainly wasn't angry with her, Bella didn't know what she was getting into.

But Rosalie also knew that the night was now basically over; she'd need to get Bella home as soon as possible, so the smaller girl could 'trip balls' (as Emmett would always so eloquently describe the high of Rigg's weed) from the safety of Rosalie's porch. _At least she'll enjoy the fireworks, _Rosalie groaned inwardly. She hadn't told Bella about the traditional, _expensive _fireworks display that ended the Gregory's annual party – she was hoping to surprise her. _So much for that…_

"Rosalie?" Bella questioned drowsily from her spot slumped over in a folding beach chair. Rosalie wasn't mad, but she ignored Bella none-the-less. But Bella, of course, wouldn't be ignored. _"Rosaliesmokesome, please, otherwiseI'llfeelbad." _The girl begged, her words almost incomprehensible. Rosalie rolled her eyes as she glared at her cousin Rigg, who was smiling stupidly at her and holding a freshly packed bowl in her face.

"_Yeah sure I'll smoke, just not here." _Rosalie snatched the full piece out of Rigg's hands.

"_Rosalie, what the hell?" _He protested lazily.

"_Give me your weed, Rigg." _Rosalie commanded.

"_Fuck no!" _He spat, suddenly waking up.

"_Oh actually fuck yes, Rigg," _Rosalie smirked viciously as she glared. _"Oh I forgot to tell your brother Blackie, but you guys are going to be cleaning Pierce Bennett's room for the next two weeks. The whole house, actually. Every day, since it's not like either of you have anything better to do." _She pulled Bella up and supported her under her arms, not taking her eyes of off her cousin.

"_Fuck you, Rosalie, no way." _Rosalie sighed dramatically.

"_Rigg, don't make a scene. Give me the rest of your pot, I just saw you put a full canister in your pocket, and Emmett is almost out. I want to bring some home to him." _Rosalie paused and watched her stoner cousin connect the dots. _"Unless you just want me to tell Em about Pierce and that whole little incident. I'm sure he'd LOVE to talk to you about it." _The blonde boy shrank and handed over a large canister packed with at least $200 worth of his prized bud. Rigg had always been afraid of her brother. And Pierce Bennett was Emmett's age; they attended the same school until Emmett went off to Andover. Pierce had always been his buddy, and Emmett had always looked out for him; consequently, the well-muscled, athletic younger Hale was fiercely protective of the disabled boy. And he loved to fight almost as much as his sister…

"_Thanks." _Rosalie grabbed the pot and began to drag Bella back to the cottage.

"_You're a bitch, Rosalie!" _Rigg yelled after her. Rosalie just raised her middle finger and casually held it behind her as she walked away.

###

She struggled to keep Bella upright as they made their way up the dunes. She could hear her cousin laughing at them, and she hoped Bella didn't notice. She had no intention of retaliating as the boy's guffaws echoed into the crisp late September night. She had her whole life to deal with her worthless relative. But Bella looked up at Rosalie miserably as she tripped to the ground once again.

"_Are they laughing at me?" _Rosalie could see tears glistening in her eyes, reflecting the orange glow of a full harvest moon above them. Sure she knew Bella was somewhat of an easy crier, but it didn't matter to her in that moment.

"_No silly, they're not laughing at you, didn't you hear the joke my cousin Andrew just told?" _Bella shook her head 'no.' Rosalie smiled down at her sincerely, but did not pick her up. _"Here Bella, sit here for a second, I forgot to say goodnight to Andrew_, _just stay put, okay?"_

"_No!" _Bella yelped. _"Rosalie don't leave me here!" _Rosalie crouched down and knelt by the gorgeous, _extremely_ high brunette.

"_Look Bella, look at the moon, can you believe it's so orange?" _Rosalie spoke to her like a parent would a toddler; she'd been high off of Rigg's weed enough herself to know that her tactic would work.

"_Wow," _Bella gasped as she gazed up in wonderment. Rosalie stood up and dusted herself off, fueled further by the laughing 25ft away.

"_Look at her, she can't even stand!" _Rigg exclaimed to his group of six friends, none of whom were laughing with him. Rosalie reached the circle in three easy strides.

She darted in, faking a lunge at Rigg, and her cousin cringed and put his hands to block. The group of boys around him started to laugh hysterically at his less-than-brave reaction to Rosalie's fake attack.

"_Pussy," _Rosalie sneered. Some of the boys echoed her sentiments, laughing and throwing food at her frightened cousin. They were all _extremely_ high…

"_Cunt!" _Rigg yelled, but Rosalie ignored him.

"_Oh that's really classy, douche bag," _Andrew, Rosalie's cousin and Rigg's brother taunted him. _"Hey Rosalie, I'm so sorry about this, I was on the phone and I didn't realize Bella was even smoking." _Andrew held out his arms as he stood up, and Rosalie embraced him.

"_Don't worry about it, Drew-key," _Rosalie assured him, calling Andrew by his childhood nickname.

"_CUNT!" _Rigg shouted louder, trying to throw a beer at Rosalie and missing terrifically.

"_I'll kick his ass," _Andrew offered, still embracing his favorite blonde cousin. Rosalie assured him that she didn't care, because it was true; she didn't.

"_Oh hey Rosalie," _Rigg began, sitting up straight from his slouched position on a plastic chaise. _"That little face Bella makes when she wraps her lips around the pipe, I bet that will look even hotter when her lips are wrapped around my-"_

_-CRACK-_

The blonde boy slumped into the chair, knocked out cold in one shot. Rosalie brought her knuckles up to her face and inspected her hand.

"_Shit, did you break anything?" _One of the boys in the circle asked, legitimately concerned for her hand.

"_Nope," _Rosalie responded with her famous, shit-eating grin. _"Just checking my manicure." _With that, the boys all fell to the ground in hysterics, knocking beach chairs every which way as they spasmed in laughter.

"_Rosalie Hale, I fucking love you!" _One of the boys shouted between guffaws. Rosalie turned on her heels and loped back to Bella.

"_Hey Drew-key!" _She shouted, calling out to her cousin Andrew. _"Let me know if he doesn't wake up so I can call your mother and apologize!" _

"_He's a douche bag, Rosalie, we won't miss him!" _Her cousin yelled back gleefully.

###

Rosalie found Bella in the same place she'd left her, still staring up at the bright moon in awe. Rosalie scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way up the beach and along the narrow path back to the cottage, all while Bella gazed mutely up at the sky and trailed a finger back and forth along Rosalie's jaw, her eyes filled with wonder. Rosalie walked straight through the front door and back to the deck, laying Bella down gently on the tufted cushion of Rosalie's favorite double chaise lounge and making sure to angle the lounge so that Bella's view of the sky over the ocean was perfect. She knew the fireworks were only seconds away; in fact, she was surprised they hadn't started already. She grabbed two Gatorades out of the fridge and a spare duvet from a woven basket in the bedroom, and headed back out to the deck.

"_Rosalie, come lay down with me," _Bella whined as soon as she heard the sliding glass door open. Rosalie obliged, laying down next to the beautiful girl and spreading the duvet over them. _"You need to smoke too," _Bella continued to whine.

"_Bella, I smoked with you on the beach, remember?" _Rosalie rubbed Bella's thigh as the girl nestled in tightly to her. Rosalie loved the feeling of her arms around Bella, even if the girl was stoned. Bella shifted so she could look up at Rosalie.

"_You're lying," _she accused her drowsily.

"_Are you kidding Bella? I'm out of my mind right now…" _Rosalie's lie was convincing enough to get Bella to cuddle back into her.

"_I'm sorry I got so fucked up, Rose," _Bella slurred. _"I was just really nervous because I know you brought me out here so we could have sex and I'm just afraid I suck at it."_

"_Whoa, wait a second Bella, I didn't bring you out here to have sex with you." _Rosalie shifted so that she could look Bella in her (stoned) eyes. _"I could just do that at home. I brought you out here because I wanted to spend time with you." _

Bella looked at her sleepily. _"Goodanswer." _Her slurring was even worse. Rosalie rubbed her arms as she pulled her closer. Rosalie was telling the truth; she, of course, did want to have sex with Bella, but she _always_ wanted to have sex with her. But just laying with her; just cuddling together, watching the sky – she wanted that too. Maybe even more. Rosalie pressed a gentle kiss to Bella's hairline as the first firework went off.

She rubbed Bella's back, herself completely content, as the smaller, super-high, beautiful brunette squealed with delight with every burst of color that exploded above them.

###

They lay like that for hours, snuggled together under the fluffy white duvet as Rosalie watched first the fireworks, and then the last remnants of a late-summer meteor shower, and Bella babbled nonsense into her neck, her fingers tracing each groove and contour of every single muscle she could reach on Rosalie's body, a body that had been secretly sculpted and toned specifically for her.

Rosalie was content. And content felt good.

###

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Ownership: Nothing but the story.

A/N (10/22): Had to make some changes to make the dirty part a little better and more cohesive.

A/N: Okay the reviews I got for that last chapter were so unbelievably awesome! Forget quantity; quality is way better. Thank you to everyone so, so very much; you totally lifted my spirits. Couldn't help myself, had to write another chapter. I've decided that I'm perfectly content with my poorly endowed review count, because the ones I do get are incredible! But (to the two well-intentioned readers that still messaged me about the stupid count again) just try not to point out how small it is when we're in the locker room, okay? Again, thank you so very much.

###

After maneuvering an absolutely 'out-of-her-mind-she-was-so-stoned' Bella into one of Rosalie's old t-shirts and a pair of her brother's boxers from when Emmett was about 12, Rosalie managed to hoist the beautiful brunette up on to the bed and under the covers. Bella insisted over and over that she wasn't sleepy, or at least that was what Rosalie thought she was saying; the girl could just _barely _form decipherable sentences. So Rosalie had just agreed with her that '_of course you're not tired, I just want you to lie down and feel the thread count on these sheets, and then we'll go back out to the deck…' _

Bella was sleeping like the dead not two minutes later. After tidying up a few things around the cottage and completing her standard 40 minute evening bathroom routine (she never claimed not to be vain), Rosalie stripped down to her usual lace boy shorts (turquoise this particular evening), grabbed the duvet that they'd used on the deck, and curled up on the couch. She wasn't worried about being caught sleeping topless – Rosalie knew she'd be up long before Bella the next morning, and she rarely slept well with a shirt on anyway.

Rosalie also knew that she could have crawled into bed with Bella; actually, she guessed that if Bella noticed she wasn't with her, the girl would be quite upset. But she also knew that tonight Bella wouldn't notice if she was spooning a grizzly bear, and Rosalie would be sure to hide any evidence that she'd been on the couch well before the typically late riser began to stir. The truth was, Rosalie felt really uncomfortable about sharing a bed with her when Bella was _so_ under the influence. She had a very difficult time feeling comfortable enough to hold _anyone_ in bed as it was. With Bella this fucked up, Rosalie thought that maybe she'd be taking advantage of the smaller girl by just assuming it was okay to hop in? Rosalie actually felt creepy just thinking about it, especially as Bella's slurred confession that she'd thought Rosalie only brought her here to fuck her continued to play on repeat in Rosalie's head. That _wasn't_ why Bella was here, not at all.

###

Rosalie felt really weird in general about Bella as she wrapped the comforter around her and tried to make somewhat of a sleep-able nest out of the overstuffed couch cushions. She couldn't elaborate her on feelings more than just calling them 'weird'; Rosalie had little control over or understanding of most of her feelings when it came to Bella to begin with. And tonight she just felt weird; too weird to sleep next to the girl without a direct, sober invitation.

###

The next morning she rose, as she'd expected, at her usual 6am wake-up time. Rosalie was one of those lucky people that operated at full capacity on very few hours of sleep; her body just didn't need more than four hours a night, maybe six if she was feeling particularly lazy. She padded into the master bedroom to quietly grab her two coated canvas duffels, and looked over at the sleeping brunette.

Even with her mouth lolling open, shiny brown hair spread out in every direction, tiny snores passing by her rosy, slightly chapped lips; even like this, to Rosalie Bella look uncompromisingly beautiful. Rosalie's faded red t-shirt, some give-away at a yacht club regatta maybe 18 years prior, had ridden so far up Bella's stomach from the girl's twists and turns that the creamy skin of the bottom of her left breast was visible.

Rosalie reached out to stroke the sensitive area as she sat on the edge of the bed, and almost touched it before she realized what she was inadvertently about to do. She yanked her hand back right before contact could be made.

_God, what is this girl doing to me? _Rosalie mused. She smiled at nothing in particular, rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

She quickly grabbed her bags and tiptoed into the living room, grateful that her Bella was a heavy sleeper and hadn't just accidentally woken up to a topless blonde reaching out to stroke her breast. Rosalie was _not_ pleased with her own lapse in judgment.

_What is this girl doing to me? _

She continued to muse and stew as she quickly brushed her teeth and threw on a black bikini with significantly more substance than most in her collection - an updated but still almost exact replica of Ursula Andress' white bikini in _Dr. No_; made by a small surfing outfit in Hawaii for girls that wanted to still look hot without losing their tops every time they wiped out. This was harder to find than one might imagine, and when Rosalie discovered the suits at a tiny surf shop while on vacation in Maui, she bought eight, in both black _and_ white. And never regretted it – the bikini was sexy as hell _and_ stayed put, even when she dove off a 40ft cliff in Mexico last fall. Emerging from the surf that day after the dive, Rosalie was greeted by cheers, wolf whistles, and an extremely pissed younger brother who'd just lost $5,000 betting that she'd chicken out.

Rosalie thought about that cliff dive every time she put this, her favorite bikini, on. After all, a 40ft _dive_ is a little bit trickier than a 40ft _jump._ Rosalie felt a little bit better as she re-played the memory in her head. Secretly, she hoped she could eventually find a clever way to show-off like that for Bella. _Maybe she'd let me bring her to Mexico…_

###

Rosalie stepped out onto the deck, and shivered as the early fall wind whipped around her. It may have still felt like summer mid-day, but at 6:30 in the morning, the season was undeniably fall. Rosalie looked at the thermometer on the side of the cottage: 60 degrees. She glided back inside and grabbed goggles and a pair of modified short fins out of her bag, deciding to skip a rash guard. She was feeling more than a bit tormented this morning, and needed a serious distraction. _Half naked in 60 degree weather should do the trick,_ she groaned to herself as she left the house and began to make her way down the path to the ocean.

By the time she reached the beach, she was seriously regretting skipping that rash guard. The wind was fierce, and the sun was only barely just beginning to rise. Rosalie knew she was going to have to work twice as hard to stay warm this morning.

As she stretched lightly on the sand, her thoughts returned to Bella. Specifically how beautiful she was. How funny she was. How entertaining she was, even stoned. How hot she'd still look in fifteen years as she sat on the deck of their guest house. Or the main house. How much of a fit she'd probably throw over the size of the diamond Rosalie would get her.

_Jesus Rosalie, shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up, shut the fuck up. _Frustrated with her scattered brain, Rosalie skipped the rest of her normal warm up routine and instead dove right into the crashing surf. It was really, really cold. So cold that it was almost impossible to think about anything else.

"_Perfect!" _Rosalie shouted to the empty beach, treading water as she slipped her fins on and adjusted her goggles. She ducked under a wave that was at least four feet overhead. This was going to be a challenging swim. This was perfect. "_This water is fucking perfect!" _She shouted again, gleefully. She turned in the waves and caught a glimpse of her guest house on the dunes. And of course immediately her mind went right back to the beautiful girl in her bed, and how strange it felt in her chest when she had watched her sleep.

_What is she doing to me?_

_###_

_What is she doing to me? – _That seemed to be the rumination of the day for Rosalie, following her as she cut her way through rough water for almost a mile and a half down the beach, emerging from the surf in front of her family's beloved Maidstone club. She smiled at her ridiculousness while she tried to shake the water from her long blonde mane. How much fun her nearest and dearest would have with her if they knew what this girl was doing to her. She figured she ought to let Emmett in on her turmoil at some point; why rob her beloved brother of his first and probably only chance to watch his hyper-capable, emotionally untouchable older sister finally come apart at the seams?

_I bet Jamie loves this the most, _Rosalie groaned inwardly as she took off sprinting down the beach, fins and goggles in hand, fear and excitement in heart.

###

By the time she made it back to the house, running wind sprints most of the way, Rosalie no longer regretted leaving her rash guard at home. She was exhausted and hot. The blonde paused on the beach in front of the guest house and spent a few minutes catching her breath before she dropped down and got through 50 push-ups before collapsing on the sand. Although it was only about 8:00am, the sun was coming on strong, and East Hampton was heating up. But the wind was still fierce – Rosalie knew it wasn't going to be the best beach day.

She jogged back to the house and snuck past the sleeping girl and into the bathroom. After a long shower and her usual primping routine, Rosalie tiptoed quietly out into the living room, threw on a pair of baggy, ripped boyfriend jeans that cuffed above the ankles and a ribbed white wife beater, slid on flip flops, grabbed her keys and a tight grey fleece jacket from the front hall closet, and buzzed into town in search of food.

She returned an hour later, held up by run-ins with a few of her parent's friends while in line at the Pear (the east end's over-priced but yummy go-to coffee spot), with two enormous coffees and piping hot oatmeal. She was surprised to find Bella's bed empty.

###

"_Hey," _Rose greeted Bella with a small smile when she found the girl out on the porch.

"_Hey," _Bella looked up at her from her spot on the chaise. She blushed and looked down sheepishly. Rosalie sat down on the edge of the lounge and held out a tall cardboard cup.

"_Coffee?" _Rosalie asked. Bella smiled nervously as she accepted the hot beverage, still steaming a bit out of its sippy hole.

"_Rose," _she began contritely. _"I feel so bad about last night; I'm so embarrassed." _Bella looked back down at the coffee cup she'd balanced on the cushion in front of her and began twisting the cardboard cup within its protective heat sleeve.

"_Bella, it's not a big deal," _Rosalie smiled warmly and placed her hand on Bella's calf. _"Most of the people were too drunk to even notice you streaking…" _Bella's head snapped up and she looked horrified. _"Besides," _Rosalie continued, "_I thought it was pretty cool that you weren't afraid to get naked in front of all those strangers." _She patted Bella's calf, mirth dancing in her eyes as she enjoyed Bella's gaping mouth and panicked expression. She smiled brightly. _"And you won $200 from that bet, how great is that?" _Rosalie, ever the consummate actress, was playing her part beautifully.

###

"_Holy fucking shit, Rose, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…" _Bella repeated the mantra as she drew her knees into her chest and buried her head. Rosalie knew letting her go much longer was just plain cruel, but she was having so much fun.

"_And I can't believe you told me you hated my outfit." _Rosalie dead-panned. Bella's head shot up once again.

"_Hey…" _Bella said warily, but Rosalie kept her face completely neutral. _"Why would I say that, I've never even thought that." _Rosalie shrugged.

"_It's cool Bella, you were really fucked up, don't worry about it." _Rosalie smiled reassuringly at the beautiful, increasingly suspicious brunette.

"_No, I would never say that, I think you're like the best dressed girl on the planet, I mean you can make a bath towel look like it came off the runway…" _Rosalie arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow as she watched Bella wrack her brain for the missing, secretly fictitious, memory.

"_Oh is that so?" _Rosalie smirked. Bella pursed her lips and squinted her chocolate eyes, leaning forward to peer into Rosalie's green ones like she was the intimidator at a police interrogation. Rosalie fought valiantly to keep her face straight, despite the fact that Bella, not six inches away, was making of the funniest faces Rosalie had ever seen. Rosalie was almost winning her battle not to smile when a long, slender finger appeared and Bella poked her in the chest accusatorially.

"_Rose?" _She questioned, screwing up her face even more.

"_Bella?" _Rosalie questioned back, but the corners of her mouth were beginning to twitch.

"_Rosalie…" _Bella poked her harder.

"_Bella…" _Rosalie tried to fight it, but the smirk was half-way there, and she attempted to look away. Bella caught her head with a hand on either side and began to squeeze.

"_Rosalie, why are you looking away? Feeling shy, are we?"_

"_No, I-" _ Rosalie started to chuckle, and Bella squeezed harder. _"Oh Goddamnit!" _Rosalie exclaimed as she burst into laughter.

"_Oh YOU LITTLE FUCKER!" _Bella leapt on top of her, knocking her coffee off the lounge. Rosalie laughed hysterically as Bella wrestled her arms and tried to pin her as the blonde squirmed, her body shaking so hard with laughter that it was starting to be painful. _"ROSE YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKER, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" _Bella gave up on trying to pin her arms and started to tickle her mercilessly instead. Rosalie squirmed like a greased piglet.

"_Stop stop, ow, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" _Rosalie begged for mercy as she continued to convulse, tears streaming down her cheeks. Bella ignored her pleas, and giggled triumphantly as she tickled and swatted at Rosalie's protesting arms. _"Ow its hurts, it's too funny, ow ow stop stop, oh my God I can't believe you actually thought it was feasible that you could have gotten naked, ow stop stop, oh my God your face was so fucking priceless, ow stop, I'll do anything, stop!"_

"_Anything? Anything?" _Bella questioned as she tortured the blonde with her long, evil fingers.

"_Yes, anything!" _Rosalie gasped, desperate to escape.

"_Even if I don't tell you right now what it is I want?" _Bella smirked as she continued her attack, now leaning down and running a wet tongue up Rosalie's cheek in the least sexy way possible.

"_Ahhh! Ewww yes anything, I promise, stop oh god, stop!" _Rosalie begged and begged as Bella licked another wet line up her face.

"_Fine!" _Bella exclaimed triumphantly, bolting upright.

And then suddenly looking a quite off-balance.

It was Rosalie's turn to gloat. _"Oh, feeling a little woozy, are we?" _Rosalie teased from her position on her back as Bella straddled her. _"Someone hit the bowl a little too hard last night, hmm?" _Bella collapsed back down on top of her and nuzzled into her neck, kissing the sensitive spot behind her ear tenderly.

"_I'm so sorry, Rose," _She murmured. _"I really do feel so embarrassed."_

"_It's okay," _Rosalie stroked her hair soothingly. _"I swear to God, it was so worth it just to see your face a few minutes ago. That was absolutely hysterical."_

"_You are such a bitch," _came a muffled response.

"_Don't worry, you actually didn't do anything embarrassing, and I smoked too, remember?" _Rosalie fibbed convincingly._ " It was fun, I loved lying out and watching the fireworks with you. Last night was great, Bella. Seriously." _Rosalie felt delicate lips on her pulse point, and then the warm breath of a huge sigh from the smaller girl.

"_Thanks, Rose." _Rose felt Bella's words puff onto her skin as much as she heard them. She smiled.

"_Come on little one, let's go feed you, I got us a fancy, fancy, expensive gourmet oatmeal breakfast, and you're not allowed to protest anymore, remember?" _Rosalie pushed herself up and off the chaise, and scooped Bella up into her arms. She wasn't quite sure why, because the girl wasn't really that much smaller than her or anything, but carrying Bella had become her new favorite pastime. As Bella giggled in feigned protest, Rosalie figured that it must be because she noticed that she was starting to do almost anything to in order to hear that captivating, melodious giggle.

_What is she doing to me?_

_###_

Rosalie fussed in the kitchen, cleaning up, loading the dishwasher, and straightening things in her usual, slightly compulsive manner. Both girls had been remarkably chipper and energetic at breakfast considering the lack of any coffee, seeing as Bella had actually managed to knock over both cups in her attack before either one of them had even a single sip. As she flipped through a worn copy of a racing manual Rosalie's grandfather had written, Bella had commented on how much she missed sailing. Her excitement when Rosalie offered to take her out on one of the two boats she kept out east (belonging to her "cousins," of course) was adorable. Rosalie was thrilled to go, as it was simply too windy to lay out any way, and even more thrilled that Bella, when given the option of a gentle sail on the Sound, or an adventurous but much more extreme sail out on the rough, windy Atlantic, chose the Atlantic without a second's hesitation.

Rosalie had sent her off to the bedroom to get changed into jeans and one of Rosalie's warm sweaters, as the smaller girl hadn't packed for the breezy chill Rosalie knew they'd encounter on the water. Bella looked slightly dubious when Rosalie also handed her a black fleece jacket and a yellow slicker, and had rolled her eyes with exceptional effectiveness when Rosalie gave her a pair of top-siders, teasing the beautiful blonde relentlessly for being so ridiculously preppy.

Rosalie rolled her eyes just as well in return, sighing dramatically as she explained to Bella that while wearing top-siders and a yellow slicker to run errands in Greenwich was of course revoltingly preppy, those same things actually served a functional purpose on a sailboat. She loved bantering back and forth with Bella; the girl could keep up better than almost anyone she'd ever slept with, and frequently had Rosalie in hysterics over her sassy retorts and quick, quirky comments. Very few people could make Rosalie truly laugh, and even fewer would ever be allowed to smack Rosalie playfully in the ass as they ordered them to "get back to women's work" in the kitchen, as Bella just had. Rosalie smiled to herself as she tidied, thinking about how much she was looking forward to showing off for Bella on the boat; and chuckling about how quickly the opportunity to do so had presented itself. Rosalie felt lucky. Bella made her feel lucky.

###

"_Rose!" _Bella demanded officially as she yelled from inside the bedroom.

"_Yes, Princess?" _Rosalie shouted back from the kitchen.

"_Can you come help me with the zipper on this ridiculous jacket, it's totally stuck!"_

"_Of course, sweet pea…" _Rosalie teased from the kitchen. She popped her head in the powder room to check her appearance, and finding that it indeed still measured up to her ridiculous standards, the blonde glided gracefully towards the bedroom, trying to choose from a long mental list of possible quips the perfect one to use to tease Bella for snagging a zipper like a six year old.

She skipped through the door, and her mouth dropped to the floor.

###

Rosalie stood frozen in the doorway, full lips parted wide as she gaped at the sight on the bed.

Bella lay on her back, propped up on her elbows, examining her nails indifferently in a move straight out of Rosalie's playbook. Wearing _lingerie. _The girl who had never deviated from cotton a day in her life was currently stretched out on the fluffy white duvet, her subtle stomach muscles flexed as they helped keep her propped up, wearing only a tiny pair of mesh boy shorts in deep navy and a matching mesh bra, and the see-through fabric that was meant to cover her breasts and lower half was failing miserably. Rosalie shuddered as her eyes fell to two perfect, pert pink nipples that rose and dipped temptingly with the gorgeous brunette's every breath.

"_Oh hey," _Bella said nonchalantly as she looked over at the stunned blonde. _"Fixed it."_

"_Oh," _was the only word Rosalie could come up with. The smaller girl was absolutely mouthwatering. She smiled coyly as she ran long fingers through her full chestnut locks, seductively shifting her part from right to left.

"_But Rosalie, I need to you look at my bra, it's a front clasp and I can't undo it." _Bella's voice was indifferent. Her push-and-pull seduction of the blonde model was working. _Brilliantly._

"_Sure, of course, um, yeah," _Rosalie fought for coherence as she loped over to the bed. Bella reached her arms out, and Rosalie accepted the hands that pulled her onto the mattress. Bella guided Rosalie's fingers to the clasp of the bra nestled between her beautiful, creamy breasts. Rosalie, still dumbfounded, actually began to legitimately examine the clasp.

"_There's nothing wrong with it," _she breathed. Bella tucked a strand of blonde hair behind Rosalie's ear.

"_You're smart." _She quipped.

"_What are you doing?" _Rosalie whispered.

"_You're not so smart," _Bella replied, pulling Rosalie down on top of her and kissing her sensually. Rosalie kissed her back and began to run her fingers through the brunette's tempting locks, but remembering the previous night, quickly pulled away and sat up.

###

"_What's wrong?" _Bella questioned nervously. _"You don't want to?"_

"_No, um, no it's just…" _Rosalie paused as she met Bella's confused eyes. _"We don't need to do this, Bella. I mean, you don't need to do this, it's not why you're here."_

Bella tilted her head questioningly.

"_I don't want you to think I brought you here so I could sleep with you. I know you're just doing this because you feel obligated or something, and I wish you'd stop."_

"_What makes you think that I think that I feel obligated?" _Bella's tone was defensive._ " Because I definitely don't."_

"_Because you told me last night, and Bella, seriously, that's absolutely not why I wanted you to come with me this weekend." _Rosalie held her gaze – the smaller girl looked suddenly weak and a little vulnerable. Rosalie sighed as she watched Bella nibble her lower lip. Bella continued to lie on her back, head propped up by pillows, as she eyed Rosalie carefully.

"_If I just wanted to sleep with you, don't you think we could have done that in New York? I mean, I know you don't get it, but Bella I never, ever, ever bring people out here. You're the first person I've wanted to take with me in I don't know how long, if I ever even wanted to at all." _Rosalie stayed sitting, her back stick-straight. She forced herself to maintain eye contact, as confessions like the one she was delivering were not especially easy for her to make._ "I just wanted to spend time with you. Of course I ALWAYS want to fuck you, but I can't help it, I just ALWAYS do. Sorry, but the location is kind of irrelevant. So you don't have to do this, okay? Let's just go for a sail. I won't touch you for a month, a year – whatever - if that's what it takes to prove to you how much more you are to me than that." _ Rosalie watched as Bella's gazed turned to one of sincere affection. She must have said something right.

"_Rosalie," _Bella breathed. _"What you just told me – I bet you don't even get how much it meant to me. Please just come here and kiss me. Even I can barely comprehend just how strongly I feel about you; just how much I want to be with you. Please, be with me?" _She looked up at Rosalie, eyes full of yearning and heavily lidded with something; Rosalie hoped it was desire. Bella sat up and grabbed Rosalie's hands again, leaning back and bringing the slender blonde down on top of her.

###

If Rosalie still doubted Bella's true intentions up to that point, the way Bella began to kiss her discredited those concerns almost instantly. The smaller girl breathed heavily as she tilted her head to pull Rosalie's swollen lips and hot tongue deeply into her. There was no time for tentative pecks – Bella needed her fully inside of her mouth immediately, and she refused to break the connection as she simultaneously fumbled with Rosalie's jeans and pulled at her tank top. With the blonde's help, she managed to kick Rosalie's jeans and panties off at the same time, and slid out of her own bottoms before Rosalie even had the opportunity to do the honors.

Bella's breath caught as she watched the muscles of Rosalie's taught stomach flex and stretch as the model pulled the long, tightly ribbed top slowly over her head, revealing her perfect round breasts to the girl beneath her. Rosalie looked deeply into Bella's eyes, her expression a mixture of lust and affection as she brought both hands to her head, arching her back slightly as her long fingers threaded into icy blonde hair, combing it back and shaking it out at the tips.

Bella reached out to touch her stomach as the two girls stared at each other, and Rosalie caught her hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it gently as she tried to convey the sincerity of her feelings with her eyes. Bella continued to look up as Rosalie, almost lovingly Rosalie thought, and in that moment she didn't allow her mind to wander any further. That moment felt too intense, too special, to be anywhere but living in it.

Bella pulled Rosalie back down and into the kiss, and the blonde exhaled deeply as she met the swollen lips with her own and worked her tongue slowly and sensually against Bella's. Bella's quick hands snapped the front clasp of her own bra open, and she moaned when she felt Rosalie's firm breasts press into her own, hot skin on hot skin.

As she absorbed Rosalie's own breathy moan with her kiss, Bella pulled the gorgeous blonde into her and held her firmly. Both girls sighed repetitively into each other as hands wandered and a slender thigh found its way between Rosalie's long legs. Every time Rosalie pressed against her, wanting to get as close to Bella as she could, she let out a breath and pushed her tongue in deeply at the same time; the combination and pace tender and slow. Bella responded with a matching breath, and grasped desperately at the skin on Rosalie's slender lower back, dragging the taller girl's center into her with as much force as she could muster.

Their timing was precise, and rhythmic, and unbelievably sensual; tongues thrusting and meeting, lungs inhaling and exhaling, hands gripping and pulling, and thighs pushing and grinding; all at the same time, over and over. Rosalie felt weak; they weren't leading up to fucking, they were making love, slowly, deeply, with intent that made both of their stomachs drop and hearts swell.

Rosalie sat up for a split second to pull her long blonde hair into a messy pony tail with the elastic she luckily had around her delicate wrist. She dove back down, and ran her lips from Bella's mouth down to the apex of her jaw, ignoring Bella's frustrated groan at the break in their kiss and instead focusing on letting her eager, swollen red lips drag hot and wet across Bella's creamy skin. She let her lips catch on the smaller girl's rapidly beating pulse, and kissed it, sucking with an open mouth. She shifted her legs so that her thigh was now rubbing on Bella's center, and she began to thrust slowly as she relished the taste of Bella's soft skin, citrus and sweat lingering on her lips as she trailed those full lips down to Bella's delicate collarbone; her fingertips ghosting over every inch of Bella's body within reach at the same time. She pressed wet, hot open-mouthed kisses on the slender bones, breathing heavy, almost as heavy as the girl beneath her. She pressed into Bella rhythmically as her lips trailed down her stomach, hands now gently kneading the small breasts, making her way to Bella's abdomen. When she reached her pelvic bones, Rosalie gave each a soft kiss as she looked up to Bella for permission. The smaller girl looked down at her, panting slightly, eyes completely blackened.

"_May I?" _Rosalie questioned in a husky voice, laced with the incredible desire she felt to consume this beautiful creature; to cover her most sensitive parts with deep kisses and run her tongue over every inch of soft skin. Bella tensed upon realizing what Rosalie wanted to do, and pulled the blonde back up to face her by her toned upper arms.

Rosalie breathed heavy, driving her thigh hard and then soft and then hard again into the heat and softness of the brunette's soaked center. Bella pulled her in for a deep, wanton kiss, and Rosalie rubbed her hands up and down Bella's torso, never stopping at a certain point; too eager to touch everything. Rosalie nipped at Bella's swollen lower lip as she pulled back, her deep agate eyes searching the black orbs beneath her.

"_Rosalie," _Bella exhaled, her hands still affixed to Rosalie's lower back and still pulling the girl insistently close with each thrust. _"I don't want you to; I don't like it, okay?"_

Rosalie nodded, meeting her plump lips in another deep kiss.

"_Can I keep kissing you, though? All over?" _Rosalie questioned between breaths.

"_You are kissing me." _Bella replied, and Rosalie could see that the brunette was feeling apprehensive about denying Rosalie's eager mouth access to her _other_ lips.

"_Just relax, okay?" _Rosalie began to kiss another trail over Bella's skin, but this time she headed over to the soft skin under the girl's arms.

"_Okay," _Bella replied, tension in her voice. Rosalie dragged swollen lips over tender skin, holding the girl's arm out gently as she kissed a path to her wrist. Her other hand continued to ghost up and down Bella's sides, gripping gently each time she thrust her leg into Bella's center, and releasing to continue its travels when Rosalie pulled back, over and over again; pressure, release, pressure, release, while the perfect blonde pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses back up the brunette's arm and down her chest.

"_Its okay, Bella, I'm right here," _Rosalie assured her, unsure of how to handle Bella's sudden, although slight, tension. _"Just focus on my lips, focus on what they feel like on your skin." _Bella exhaled, and Rosalie could feel her relaxing. She traveled up to kiss her neck, caressing Bella with a wet tongue and insistent lips. _"What does that feel like, Bella?"_

"_It feels hot and wet and gentle," _she whispered, "_and it makes me feel warm all over." _

Bella was getting the idea without much instruction. _"Good Bella, focus on everything you feel." _

Rosalie kissed her full lips briefly and then hovered over her for a moment, long enough for Bella to gasp _"God, you hovering over me like this, I've never seen anything as beautiful as you are right now. I don't believe you're real." _Rosalie smiled slightly in return and kissed a line from Bella's chin back down to her chest. Rosalie slid a hand under behind Bella's back, taking her full weight off the girl so she could focus on touching her. She ghosted the fingertips of her still free hand up Bella's breast and over her nipple, earning a sharp gasp from the beautiful brunette as Rosalie's hand flattened and she ran her palm up Bella's arm, moving it above her head for a moment but then rubbing back down the delicate arm, over the breast, and down to Bella's abdomen just as quickly.

Rosalie worked slowly, relishing the feel and taste of the girl almost as much as she relished the feel of Bella's body as it completely relaxed into the mattress and began to grind on her thigh insistently. She dragged eager, wet lips to Bella's left breast, kissing every inch of the soft curve at the bottom before moving up to the hard, pink nipple.

"_Bella," _Rosalie moaned her name, peppering the bud with much smaller, light kisses as she asked her _"Tell me what this feels like, does this feel good?" _She immediately encircled the hardened bud with her plump lips, drawing it deep into a soft, wet mouth, kissing it as slowly and deeply as she would the smaller girl's mouth, tongue rubbing and thrusting with each drive of her thigh lower down.

"_Oh God," _Bella moaned, twitching as Rosalie's swollen lips consumed her sensitive point. _"It feels so hot, and wet, and it's making my stomach wrap around itself. Oh God Rosalie, it's sending…ugh," _she groaned as Rosalie let her teeth slightly graze the nipple as she pulled and exhaled heavily, the breath confined within her lips spreading heat everywhere. _"Oh God Rosalie…Rose I feel like my insides are melting." _Rosalie moaned into her breast, letting the vibrations of the noise tease the sensitive flesh, and her lips curved into a smile; she was never so lost in lust that she couldn't appreciate Bella's always interesting descriptive word choices.

Bella's wetness had long since spread past her lower lips, and Rosalie could feel liquid heat burning the skin of her thigh every time the wet skin hit the air. She began to trail her kisses lower, lifting her head up to breath _"hold my hands" _as she brought both up to massage Bella's breasts. Bella linked her fingers on top of Rosalie's own and helped them as they kneaded and rolled the tender flesh. Rosalie kissed down her soft, finely muscled abdomen, moving quickly to her destination before Bella could come down to earth enough to protest again.

She hovered over Bella's center and found her target easily, fully visible and engorged. Rosalie bent down and licked a clean line up Bella's slit before latching on to her clit, easily taking the hardened nub into her mouth, two swollen lips encircling as a hot tongue pressed flat on its top and a wet mouth sucked sensually. Bella moaned loud, almost screaming as Rosalie felt hands dig into the ones that the smaller girl held - the hands that were still kneading her sensitive breasts.

Rosalie began to moan loudly and purposefully as she sucked her sweet bud, rubbing her tongue in slow rhythm as the vibrations from her moans sent Bella's legs twitching. She buried her face and ran her tongue down to press inside Bella's tight opening, ensuring that the tight brunette was ready before bringing it back and again enveloping Bella's sensitive clit with her soft mouth. Rosalie wasn't naturally a noisy moaner (more of a heavy breather – a 'breathy moaner'), so she was careful to low and deep and loud into the hot flesh, vibrations pulsing and teasing the tight bundle of nerves over and over, all her movements still keeping in time and still at the same slow, purposeful pace. Bella moaned and breathed heavy, whispering Rosalie's nickname often as she writhed and twisted on the soft bed.

Rosalie broke one hand free of Bella's own and rubbed down the sensitive breast before bringing it under to cup Bella from behind so that she could pull the brunette into her in time with her other ministrations. Bella was now moaning with significant force, her hand squeezing Rosalie's harder and harder with each strong pull from the blonde's hot mouth. Rosalie dragged that hand down, rubbing Bella's stomach and thighs before she eased two fingers into her wet, tight hole, penetrating her gently. She marveled at how the soft walls immediately clamped down so tightly on her long digits, clenching and sucking they pulled and she pushed far inside.

Now without Rosalie's own to hold, Bella's hands first gripped the sheets violently, and then quickly dug into Rosalie's scalp. She tugged on the blonde's hair urgently, probably not even aware of what she was doing as she pulled Rosalie's her head into her center, forcing it down and even closer as the beautiful girl wriggled and writhed, moans having turned into yells, and only increasing in volume as Rosalie drove her fingers in at the same time as she rocked the girl's hips up and pressed her mouth down, pulling deeply on the hard point between her wet lips.

"_Oh fuck, fuck, oh shit, oh fuck Rosalie, oh my god that feels good, oh shit, I'm going to come, fuck, FUCK, fuck, oh my god Rose I can't hold it, oh FUCK!" _Bella's feet were pressed flat on the bed and she used the full force of her legs as she slammed her hips into Rosalie, groaning violently in an almost unrecognizably guttural tone as Rosalie pushed long fingers in deeper and sucked a twitching clit harder. She never increased the pace to the usual orgasmic frenzy; instead wanting to draw Bella's long and incredibly deep cum out of her by pressure and power rather than speed. Bella's inner walls clenched rapidly around her hand as Rosalie felt wetness all over both of them. Bella felt even tighter than she had the previous time, and her taste was so incredible, that more than a few _"fucks" _were moaned into Bella's sensitive pussy as Rosalie tasted and pulled and sucked deeply.

Bella moaned and spasmed for longer than Rosalie thought she'd ever made anyone go. When Rosalie finally decided to let her come down, she kept her fingers deep inside the smaller girl as she moved up and covered her soft body with her own.

Bella looked as dazed and high as she had the night before. She shifted slightly, her thigh accidentally pressing into Rosalie's center, and to the blonde's complete shock, she felt herself clench as small waves suddenly rushed through her. She couldn't believe it, but she'd come, just from simply going down on the beautiful girl.

_What is she doing to me?_

But Rosalie's thoughts were drowned out by Bella's sharp breaths and throaty tone as she gasped _"how are you real, how is this real, how are you real, how is this real" _over and over as she continued to hyperventilate and cling desperately to the blonde above her.

###

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Own nothing but the story

A/N: Okay I'm putting this chapter out in two parts, so this will be shorter than most, but I wanted to get something out fast because honestly, the reviews you guys have written have been some of the nicest, most inspiring things I've gotten in my life. You are all so incredible. I'm desperately trying to get this out before an event I have to get to, so I'm going to make some serious oversights and mistakes, I promise you. I'll totally fix them soon. God, thank you so much to everyone that reviewed. Really, thank you.

###

As they drove over to Shinnecock inlet, Bella fiddled with Rosalie's iPod.

"_God I miss having a car, you know?" _Bella chatted easily as she scrolled through songs. _"Well, actually, you definitely don't know, no offense I mean. But that's the one thing about New York that I don't like; no car."_

"_Believe it or not, I do know. When I was doing PR, I would go months without driving, and you know what I really missed? _Rosalie ran a hand through her pale locks as she spoke.

"_What, oh mysterious one?" _Bella teased.

"_Ha Ha," _Rosalie dead-panned. _"Actually, I just really missed listening to music in the car. Nothing else, really, but I missed that solitude where it's just you, no one around to bother you, and you can play whatever you want, however loud you want to hear it."_

"_Totally." _Bella agreed. _"I was just about to say that."_

"_I just think any song sounds better when it's blasting, full volume, in a car. I don't know, I just love that." _Rosalie smiled, thinking about how she could ever get away with buying the brunette a car without the girl absolutely killing her. She groaned inwardly; _God Rosalie, way to put the cart before the horse. _She'd just about given up on wondering what this girl was doing to her – it was just too bizarre, too out of character, and too frustrating to dwell on.

"_Oooh, can I play you my absolute favorite song to listen to loud in a car?" _Bella squealed excitedly. _"Actually it's my favorite, favorite song of all time, and I bet you'll be surprised…"_

"_Bella, with you I am constantly surprised…" _Rosalie smirked over at the girl and rolled her eyes, earning a playful swat on the arm from the brunette.

"_Shut up, Rose, you wanna hear it or not?" _Bella sassed her.

"_Hell yeah, put it on." _Rosalie's smirk grew. _"I never said I didn't like your surprises, you know…" _She waggled her eyebrows at Bella and winked.

"_Stop flirting and listen," _Bella ordered as she searched the iPod.

Rosalie gasped theatrically. _"You just told Rosalie Hale to stop flirting with you? I don't that's ever happened in the course of her 29 years on this planet!"_

"_And stop talking in the third person too, you weirdo!" _Bella giggled. _"Wow, Rose, you have every song from this band, which, along with having written the greatest song of all time, is also, in my opinion, the greatest band of all time…" _She smiled brightly at Rosalie. _"I think I might like you after all…"_

"_Oh good, so I'm wearing you down?" _Rosalie quipped sarcastically. Bella just beamed as she nodded enthusiastically. _"Yes, after looking at the songs you have on this iPod…" _ She popped up over the console and pecked Rosalie on the cheek, earning a giggle from the normally serious girl. _"I think I might marry you!"_

"_Oh sweet, I knew that iPod would do the trick…" _Rosalie quipped back.

"_Yes you're a genius, Rosalie Hale."_

"_Duh. And you're an idiot for not wearing your seatbelt, put that thing on this instant!"_

"_Jeeze Rose, you're such a buzz kill…" _Bella groaned.

Rosalie looked over at her with an annoyed expression gracing her gorgeous features. _"Are you going to play the song or not?"_

Bella smirked; Rosalie noticed that she'd really improved her smirking technique over the last few months. No one could smirk quite like Rosalie; but Bella _was_ getting good_…_

"_Okay I'm going to play it, but here's the thing Rosalie," _Bella looked at her sternly. _"If you don't like this song; I mean, I'm sorry but if you can't appreciate its greatness as a modern day masterpiece, then that's kind of a deal breaker for me. I'm dead serious…"_

"_I know, you look dead serious." _Rosalie patted her hand. _"It's cute – for a fluffy little baby bunny, I think you're very menacing."_

"_Ugh you're such a bitch. Are you ready? I mean, like, really ready?" _Rosalie said nothing; just looked down her nose at Bella with a look that more or less said _'Are you serious?'_

"_Okay, okay!" _Bella clicked play and turned the volume dial up very high. She kept her best menacing glare fixed on Rosalie, pretending to watch for her reaction as if it would determine Rosalie's fate.

###

As the _extremely _familiar notes hit Rosalie's ear, she couldn't help but smile broadly. _God, this girl is perfect. _

"_Well, Bella, this may be an obvious choice considering the band, but I have to tell you, when it comes to 'Sweet Child O' Mine,' I've always said 'fuck it,' it's obvious because it's awesome, duh."_

Bella bounced up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. _"So you like Guns N' Roses, Rosalie? For real?" _Her grin was beyond infectious, and she had Rosalie smiling so wide it almost hurt.

"_Oh Bella, you have no idea…" _She managed an eye roll despite the fact that most of the muscles on her face were already in use shaping her gleeful, genuine smile. _"I mean, normally I would give you shit and pretend I didn't like it just to torture you, but I'm a huge, huge Guns N' Roses fan. Like, you have NO idea!" _Rosalie knew Bella _really _had no idea; there were so many details of her life that she had yet to share with Bella. And she now realized she had a secret that might come in very, very handy. She shook her head, almost disbelieving that she'd just been handed _another_ opportunity to show off for the girl. _Oh she doesn't even know what she's in for…_

"_Rosalie! This is my favorite song on the planet! Since it came out!" _Bella shouted gleefully above the music as the first guitar solo in "Sweet Child O' Mine" rang through the speakers. _"Is it your favorite too?"_

Not like she needed yet another example to prove to herself how much she liked the girl, but the fact that Rosalie completely repressed the immediate urge to snark that, considering that the album came out when Bella was only six, liking it_ "since it came out" _might be a bit of a stretch; the fact that Rosalie resisted that urge _easily_, instead choosing to giggle and grin – yes, she knew she was really getting in deep with Bella. She really, _really_ liked her.

"_Well actually 'Rocket Queen' is my favorite GnR song, but 'Sweet Child' is definitely next. I don't care that everyone likes it; they should, it's a great, great song. And you and I happen to have a favorite band in common now too…" _

Rosalie worried for a second that she'd said too much; suddenly feeling a bit out of control and needy. But Bella's enthusiasm pulled her back quickly.

"_Wait!" _She bounced up and down, completely ecstatic. _And still not wearing her fucking seatbelt, _Rosalie mused.

"_Okay Rosalie, A, I can't believe you actually just shared something personal with me - this is like, ground breaking!" _Rosalie groaned, worried that if her eyes rolled one more time they might get permanently stuck, if such a thing was possible.

Bella ignored her and continued. _"And B, your favorite band and my favorite band is Guns N' Roses! Oh we are sooooooo getting married!" _Rosalie chuckled and shook her head. Bella began to root frantically through the tote bag Rosalie had lent her, and squealed with glee as she found what she was looking for. She turned her back to Rosalie, ordering her not to look.

"_Give me your hand, but keep your eyes on the road," _the still giggling brunette commanded. Rosalie lent her a slender, elegant hand, and felt Bella covering her finger with paper or something else that was scratchy.

"_Can I look now?" _Rosalie grumbled, feigning annoyance.

"_Yes, sweet pea." _Bella teased. She looked over and saw a dollar bill folded up and wrapped around her ring finger. Bella got down on one knee of the floor of the front seat. Rosalie smiled but rolled her eyes; she was going to wring Bella's neck if the girl didn't put on a seatbelt soon. Bella kissed her hand gently.

"_Oh gorgeous, insanely beautiful ice princess Barbie, lover of the Guns and of the Roses, will you do me the honor of being my wife so that together we can bask in the glory of the greatest guitar solos ever crafted by the hands of men, if Slash be even a man at all, as his insane talent seems almost divine, but as I was saying, marry me so that together we can bask in the glory of the wonder that is his guitar playing, for the rest of our earthly days?" _Bella batted her lashes.

Rosalie tried to keep her breath in for a few seconds as Bella gazed at her, but one more ridiculous puppy dog look from the beautiful brunette and she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Rosalie nearly drove the Lexus off the road as she burst into laughter, literally roaring with it as she tried not to look at the girl and stay focused on the road. Bella only had to watch the blonde for a few seconds before she too erupted in guffaws. _"Seriously," _Rosalie gasped, "_I'm so sorry, but that was the dorkiest thing I think I've ever heard!" _Rosalie howled as she watched the other girl crack up – frankly, neither girl even really knew what was that funny, they were just playing off of each other, tears streaming down both of their cheeks as they completely cracked up. "_Oh my God, Bella," _Rosalie tried to get the words out between crazy giggles, _"where did you come from, I swear to God, you just crack me up!" _Bella couldn't stop laughing enough to speak.

###

This moment, the pure laughter of two girls cracking each other up for no reason, so carefree and light – it was the sort of moment that had been so long forgotten by Rosalie that she no longer remembered its existence. It was a moment she hadn't experienced in a long, long time. The type of moment she hadn't been a part of in 14 years, 9 months, and 22 days, actually.

_What is she doing to me?_

_###_

Upon arriving at the marina and strolling, hand in hand, down to the slip where Rosalie kept her boat, the strangely carefree blonde felt nothing but excitement. She _loved_ to sail, and she _loved _her boat. However, as they arrived, the tensing Rosalie felt in both Bella's grip and posture indicated that the smaller girl suddenly didn't feel the same way.

"_Um, this is it?" _Bella asked, and Rosalie picked up the slight trepidation in her voice. Rosalie was confused; Bella had been so excited. She decided to ignore the sudden change, worried that perhaps she herself was just being oversensitive.

"_Yup, this is it. And to be honest, Bella, although my cousins bought it, this is really my boat."_

"_It's um, it's pretty big…"_

"_Well, no not really. It's kind of my pride and joy – I actually usually keep it in the city, at that marina down by Battery Park. But isn't it beautiful?" _Rosalie ran a manicured hand lovingly over the side of the hull. Bella said nothing in response – this was strange, Rosalie thought. Her expression was totally un-readable.

Rosalie pushed forward: _"It's a Hinckley DS-42, one of the two smallest yachts they make, and although it's not usually a racing boat, all Hinckley's are customer built, so I had this one modified so I could race it. Not that I race anymore, but…" _Her insecurity with regard to Bella's mood swing was forcing her to babble. Another new, very un-Rosalie habit that the usually self-assured blonde had suddenly acquired.

Although some small voice in her swirling head instructed her to shut up, she couldn't seem to listen to it, continuing: _"I still want the option, and this boat as really fun and comfortable for longer trips, plus I can sail it by myself. But everything is winched up with dualies so I can trim everything a little more precisely, and I've had guy lines for harnesses put in, along with a ton of other stuff to modify it so it could be competitive. They make them in Southwest harbor, which is really close to my summer home in Maine, and I actually was there when they poured the fiberglass for this bad-girl. I got her three whole years before they made the DS part of their standard fleet. I mean look at this girl – 13ft overhangs, and she's loaded with carbon fiber and holy shit, I'm boring you to tears, aren't I? I'm so sorry…" _Rosalie looked down, mortified that she'd spoken so much. This _really _wasn't like her.

"_No, no, Rosalie, you're not boring me, it's just…" _Bella looked up at her nervously, and Rosalie instinctively grabbed her hand.

"_What Bella, what's wrong?" _Rosalie smiled, trying to be re-assuring, but her smile was forced and small.

"_Um, it's just when I said I sailed, I meant like, sunfish and 420s on a channel near Stuart (_Florida, Bella's hometown), _not, like 50 foot boats…"_

"_Oh!" _Rosalie said brightly. _"That's what you're freaked out about? Dear God Bella, you had me really worried. I mean, besides the fact that Chester is only 42ft, didn't you hear me say that I can sail her single-handedly? I never intended for you to_ _help anyway. I'm wooing you, remember?"_

"_You can sail THAT by yourself?" _Bella raised an eyebrow skeptically, but she let Rosalie, who was now leaning against the side of the boat, pull her in close. Rosalie smiled at her cockily – she just couldn't help herself.

"_Ignoring the obvious, which is that I would never, ever do anything to endanger you, Bella; I'm going to try to be humble right now, okay, but I've sailed Chester to Bermuda twice, Maine five times, and Florida once – and I'm only telling you about the solo trips I've made. Trust me, you will be fine. It will be fun, okay?"_

"_You can sail THIS boat to Bermuda by yourself? I barely even know where that is, but…"_

"_Oh stop, my ego is just getting larger." _

Rosalie rubbed her sides and Bella finally smiled, first sweetly and then with a hint of flirtatiousness as she replied: _"Well, you know how much I love your ego…"_

_###_

Twenty minutes later, they were almost out of the inlet and into the ocean. Rosalie was hot, and she'd stripped down to her slim navy tank top, top-siders long since stowed beneath (Rosalie always preferred to sail barefoot.) Bella tried to be discreet as she watched Rosalie stretch and reach and pull, every golden muscled flexed as she'd rigged the boat. Rosalie knew she was watching, and she knew that Bella didn't want to be caught. But when Rosalie, standing directly in front of Bella, had reached up to adjust a stay, stretching her toned, willowy body to its max as she tried to grasp something almost out of reach, Bella had been compelled to comment.

"_Shit, Rose," _she said, something heavy in her voice (Rosalie wouldn't let herself think that it was actually arousal, but it sure sounded like it.)

"_What?" _Rosalie asked, staying focused on reaching the wind gauge high above her.

"_Your jeans are riding so low that I am like an inch from seeing the top of, well you know, and I'm sorry to distract you, but the way those jeans hang off of you, and your tank rides up to so I can see those abs, and your muscles are all like, tiny but crazy toned, and your hair in the wind and Jesus, your absolutely fucking gorgeous face, I mean, I think I'm going to pass out." _Rosalie was shocked at how straight-forward the beautiful girl was, not to mention extremely flattered. But she held it together, trying, in her mind, to retain some dignity since she felt like she was on the verge of begging Bella to elope.

"_Wow, I should take you sailing more often." _She smirked and winked, but she leaned down to kiss her, quickly as she needed to stay focused, but tenderly none-the-less. She probably shouldn't have; she was not doubt giving up her advantage, acquiescing too much power - but she just couldn't help herself. She loved that this insanely hot brunette actually thought that she was at least somewhat as pretty as Rosalie thought she was. Because Rosalie thought Bella was pretty. Rosalie thought Bella was very, very, very pretty.

As she focused on getting everything ready for the winds waiting not yards away, it still took almost everything she had not to grab Bella and kiss her again. _Just for a second, right? I mean, if I could just feel her tongue for two seconds, how much harm could that do, right? _She watched Bella bite her lip. _Oh fuck, who cares? _She hoped over and leaned in, pressing full, red lips against Bella's pink, soft ones. She embraced her gently, luxuriating in the feel of Bella at every point where their bodies touched. Their tongues met, and they kissed softly, but the kiss felt strangely emotional.

-SLAM-

Rosalie pulled Bella down just in time to dodge the mast as it swung hard to port. She hadn't been paying attention at all – the boat had moved out of the protected inlet and was suddenly in the midst of the strong winds of the stormy Atlantic. But Rosalie was a consummate helmsman, and she quickly secured the mainsheet and flew over to adjust the wildly flapping jib, in one single, fluid motion.

Nothing serious had happened; in fact, a surge of adrenaline coursed through the blonde – she loved the danger and the excitement of the sea. And she especially loved making out with the beautiful (and growing more and more beautiful in her eyes every day) brunette. Who, as her eyes practically bore a hole in Rosalie's back as she watched her, still clad in just the tank-top, run the double winches in their circular, bicycle motion, clearly taking in the deceptively strong girl's every muscle as she powered through the rigging, was causing Rosalie to smile like the entire world was within her grasp.

###

The wind swirled the blonde's light locks all around her sculpted face as she deftly maneuvered the sleek craft east. It was blowing hard; harder than Rosalie would have liked – if she'd been alone, it would have been perfect, but she was afraid it was going to be a bit too intense for the beautiful girl currently clinging to her thigh. Bella had just about screamed when the boat first began to heel, but Rosalie had noticed that she was beginning to relax after a few minutes as she watched Rosalie expertly juggle five or six different tasks all at once and with graceful ease. But she still pressed herself into the leeward set closest to the stern, hand firmly grasping Rosalie's thigh as the blonde stood at the helm. Rosalie kept the boat from heeling as much as she could, but in winds this high, it was somewhat inevitable.

"_Hey," _Rosalie spoke calmly as she gently pulled Bella up by the arm and around her, sitting her on the windward side (the side of the boat that was high in the air when the boat heeled.) _"I think you'll be more comfortable up on this side – here, actually sit up a little higher and brace your feet against the lip on the edge of the seat, okay?"_

"_Higher?" _Bella said nervously. _"Like on the back of the seat?" _She looked apprehensive.

"_Yes, you'll like it actually – way up high over the waves. Just trust me."_

Bella nodded and pushed herself up on the edge of the boat. _"How are you so calm? It's like a hurricane out here!" _She held the hand that Rosalie had offered when helping her up, and wouldn't let go.

"_Because I've been sailing in these conditions all my life, and sailing in them alone for, hang on, let me think…" _Rosalie did the calculations in her head – "_for 19 years. I wasn't allowed to sail anything longer than 15 ft solo until I was 10. I did the Bermuda race when I was 13 with my Uncle Larry and one of my friends who was also 13, and we actually had to sail through a real hurricane. I was never scared of high winds after that." _Rosalie smiled but kept her eyes forward, concentrating on the water.

"_But still, you're not like, running around or barking out orders or anything…"_

Rosalie laughed, smiling brightly. _"Oh so you ARE a sailor then!" _Bella looked at her questioningly.

"_Any real sailor knows all about that whole aggressive skipper rage thing. It takes all the fun out of it – I don't know why so many people get so tense and bossy as soon as they get on a boat. Men especially; it's almost like its part of the sport for them." _

Bella smiled at her – "_yeah, I've never really sailed with anyone that wasn't like that to some degree. I figured that it's just because being at the helm is so stressful. So why aren't you like that? Just because you're experienced?"_

Rosalie snorted. _"God no, I've crewed for guys that have years of experience on me, and are way more skilled, and most of them still bark orders and get all stressed. No, it's because my father is probably one of the most aggressive, tense people I've ever sailed with, and after an entire childhood spent getting screamed at during forced sails with him, I just kind of resolved to never let myself get that way..." _Rosalie trailed off a bit at the end of the sentence as she realized what she was saying. She felt immediately uncomfortable; she did not want Bella to know anything about her father or her childhood, at least, not for a long time. She silently prayed that Bella wouldn't pick up on that last comment, but of course, Bella mentioned it right away.

"_So your dad yelled at you a lot?" _Bella questioned her plainly; no hidden agenda that Rosalie could perceive. She knew she could lie, or protest, or backtrack, but she didn't really have the energy. Sometimes those memories just exhausted her – it was an odd response, and she didn't know why her body did that. Rosalie wasn't going to elaborate for Bella, either. She just needed to be quiet for a minute.

"_Yes." _Rosalie's voice wasn't cold; just hollow. Almost dead. It would take her a few minutes to spring back to life again; to feel like a real person. It always did.

"_You're upset. What did-" _Rosalie whipped her head around and glared at Bella menacingly, immediately silencing her. _"Rose, you can tell-" _

"_Don't." _Her tone was threatening. Angry. Sadly, she didn't care. She _needed_ Bella to drop the subject.

Rosalie turned back and focused on her surroundings. The wind was starting to really pick up – 20, maybe even 30 knots she guessed (23 to 32mph.) She knew she could turn around and head in so as not to frighten the far less experienced girl beside her, but right now she needed the rush more. She needed to go fast; she needed the challenge. This was the only way she could handle feelings like the ones she was currently having.

"_Bella," _she began calmly, her tone friendly again. _"I need you to go down below and grab the blue tote bag with my initials on it. When you come out, I'm going to pull into the wind, so the sails are going to luff and shake a lot, but it will slow us down enough that I can rig us up. We're going to have some fun…" _

Bella would be fine; Rosalie knew exactly what she was doing, and she'd never put Bella in danger. Scare her a little; maybe, but right now Rosalie needed this too much to stop.

###

A few minutes later, Rosalie and Bella were harnessed up and firmly clipped to the guy line. Rosalie grasped the wheel extension and mainsheet in her right hand so that she could put her other arm around Bella and hold her protectively as she brought the boat into a strong tack, leaning out far and letting the harnesses hold them as they rode the lip of the port side, heeling high above the rushing water. Bella shrieked as the starboard side dipped under for a second, taking in about an inch of water. Rosalie laughed and kissed her on the cheek. And to her great surprise, Bella suddenly began to laugh as well.

"_Holy shit Rose! This is so scary! This is so scary! This is awesome!" _Bella laughed gleefully, and took a hold of the jib sheet on her own.

"_This is like, my favorite feeling in the world, Bella." _Rosalie shifted, letting up slightly on the main as a gust tilted them even farther.

"_How fast are we going?" _Bella shouted over the rush of wind and waves. They were flying over the water at this point. Rosalie checked the odometer.

"_Wow, Bella, 28 knots!" _Rosalie laughed again. _"Holy shit little one, you're braver than I thought!"_

Bella puffed up and leaned out even farther, her body almost parallel to the water now as she hung probably eight feet above the surface of the ocean. _"How fast is that in English, please?" _She shouted again, shrieking adorably as water splashed on her.

"_About 30 miles an hour or so!"_ Rosalie shouted back, shrieking a bit herself as another splash hit them. She watched Bella shake the droplets out of her hair as she smiled. _She is so beautiful - _Rosalie was simply overcome by how utterly beautiful the laughing, bright-eyed girl was in that moment. In _every_ moment. _She is so, so beautiful._

_###_

Bella's perspective:

She laughed at Rosalie's shriek as they were splashed for the second time. Bella marveled at how even Rosalie's gleeful shriek could sound so lovely, so captivating. Everything about the girl was captivating – she was so completely beyond perfection; in fact, Bella figured that Rosalie Hale had probably eclipsed perfection at probably the age of 8 or so. The rush of adrenaline that coursed through the brunette as they flew across the water was like nothing she'd ever felt. She really did feel like she was flying.

She should have been scared, but Rosalie was so sure, so calm, and so capable, that Bella actually felt safe. Well, _safe_ might not have been the best way to describe racing over the Atlantic at 30mph leaning out over the edge of a boat so vertical that was almost completely perpendicular to the water's surface. But she wasn't afraid; somehow Rosalie made her feel not afraid.

She had found that watching Rosalie on the boat, handling such an intimidating, complicated vessel with such expertise – Rosalie was so capable, and strong, and so _good_ at it – that Bella couldn't help it; she'd never wanted anyone so much in her life. _As usual, _she groaned inwardly_._ Rosalie was so unbelievably beautiful, so incredibly strong and nimble and graceful; and so, so unbelievably _good_ at everything – _She's like a freaking superhero, _Bella thought. _And she wants me. ME. _

It was almost completely overwhelming; Rosalie was almost completely overwhelming. And yet she was fragile; Bella knew that, and she knew that she had clearly hit a nerve that afternoon. Rosalie had frightened her with that angry glare, but Bella soon realized that she was just being defensive, not angry. Just defensive. Self-protective. Closed-off. And more than anything else, frustrating.

But the unbelievable feeling of having that incredible girl wrap her arm around Bella and kiss her as she pulled them into the reach; it silenced any frustration Bella was feeling.

"_Bella, I'm going to tack, so I want you to get down and grab the transom, then unhook your harness from the guy line and attach it to the one on the other side." _

"_Rose, I know how to tack…" _Bella protested.

"_I believe you, but this is going to be a serious fucking tack, and I don't want you going overboard, okay?" _Bella watched in awe as Rosalie expertly attached and un-attached and winched and adjusted about a thousand things without even looking – instead, her gaze remained fixed on Bella, urging her to comply with those liquid green eyes of hers. Bella grabbed the transom (where the wheel was attached), and just about passed out from the incredible surge that she felt in her body; the huge swelling in her chest, as she watched the lithe blonde suddenly turn the wheel, more or less roll in mid-air, and leap to the other lip, juggling and pulling what had to be at least a hundred different lines as the boat surged violently and changed course. She was absolutely _incredible_ to watch in action. _Incredible._

"_Jesus Rose, you're incredible!" _Bella shouted at her as Rosalie settled herself on the edge and ran a hand through her unruly blonde hair as it whipped in the wind. She had really hot hair. Really hot, sexy hair.

"_I could say the same about you! Get up here!" _Rosalie beamed and offered a hand, pulling Bella up to the lip to sit next to her and then clipping her in. Bella knew she had to release her hand so that Rosalie could sail the boat without killing them both, but she really didn't want to.

Letting it go reluctantly, Bella sighed and leaned out over the edge, hovering high over the rushing water.

"_Rosalie how far can this boat heel without tipping over? I want to go higher!" _Bella laughed as she spoke, so amazed by the incredible afternoon she was having.

"_Higher? Well I mean, I can easily get the leeward lip at least 6 or 7 inches under without losing control…" _She looked at Bella with a mischievous grin. _"But it's pretty scary… And you can't grab on to me or anything, because I kind of need to focus, but…You up for it?" _Rosalie's surprise and excitement was contagious.

"_Hell yes!" _Bella braced herself against the side as she watched Rosalie prepare some of the lines.

Without warning, she pulled the wheel extension in and the boat's port side went completely underwater. It felt like the boat was going to flip over at any second. Water poured into the hull, and Bella screamed, completely terrified.

Until she noticed that Rosalie was laughing gleefully as the boat, now speeding even faster and submerged at least four inches under on their opposite side, cut deftly through the sea. After 20 seconds or so, Rosalie pulled back and righted the craft somewhat, so they were back to a comfortable, still quite steep, heel.

"_Holy shit Rose, that's so incredible, I just can't believe that, that was so extreme, holy shit!" _Bella looked behind her expecting to see a laughing Rosalie smiling gleefully. Instead, Rosalie's eyes were dark, and she looked completely serious. Or wait, Bella knew that look, that wasn't serious, that was…

"_Close your eyes, I want to try something." _Rosalie leaned in close, her eyes fixed on Bella's lips. Water splashed on them again, but Bella didn't even flinch. Rosalie tucked a strand of damp chestnut hair behind her ear, looking at her intensely. Bella didn't even consider the danger; she just closed her eyes without thinking, and felt full, soft lips meet hers, slow and tender. Soon she felt Rosalie tilt her head and press a little harder. She whimpered as she felt the blonde tracing her lips with the tip of her tongue. Bella parted them, and Rosalie merged their mouths, kissing her firmly and deeply, but not urgently. Just firm enough, and Bella felt her sigh as their tongues connected. Rosalie pressed into her, tongue sensuously rubbing her own once, twice, and a third time. And then she was gone.

Bella opened her eyes, a little dazed.

"_Wow," _Rosalie breathed. It almost sounded like she was in awe. _"I can't believe I just got to kiss you on the edge of a 42 foot yacht as we heeled 7 feet out of the water in 30mph winds. I think this might be the greatest day of my life."_

For once, Bella was speechless. 

###


	16. Chapter 16

Ownership: Nothing but the story

A/N: This is the second part of what I'd intended to be a single chapter, but its probably better that I split it up anyways, because I wrote a lot more than I'd anticipated.

###

The sun had almost disappeared below the horizon as two beautiful girls meandered along the beach, hand in hand, pulling and teasing and laughing as the smaller of the two continuously tried to jump on the taller girl's back, or topple her over, or splash her with handfuls of cool ocean water scooped from the edges of a rising tide. Bella grabbed Rosalie from behind, snaking her arms around the willowy blonde and bringing the bottle of Dom up to full, rosy lips as she plied Rosalie with a mouthful of the crisp bubbly, giggling the entire time.

After a long, hot shared shower with a strong R-rating, Rosalie had finally gotten her frisky brunette down to the beach for a walk. She had needed to get her out of the house; as usual, Rosalie was up to something…

###

Two hours earlier:

"_You –" _Bella poked Rosalie in the chest as she grinned flirtatiously, "-are amazing. Ah-mazing."

They'd just steered the Hinckley back into the slip, and Rosalie was currently coiling the various lines and just generally tidying as they prepared to leave. The wind had all but completely died, and at 5 o'clock in the afternoon it was luckily still warm enough that Rosalie had stripped back down to just her tank and low-slung boyfriend jeans, tossing her grey fleece into the corner victoriously. She loved the warmth of summer, even if it was only an Indian summer. Although as Bella teased and flirted with her while she finished things up, Rosalie wondered if maybe she might not hate this coming fall as much as she normally did.

The reason why had just dropped her pointing digit and had now curled her fingers through Rosalie's belt loops as the blonde stretched in front of her to fasten a line on the mast. Bella smirked as she tugged Rosalie into her by the loops so that their bodies were flush against each other, faces now only inches apart.

"_Did you not hear me, Billy Budd?" _Bella questioned seductively as Rosalie brought her arms down from the mast and draped them over Bella's shoulders.

"_You." _ She caught Rosalie's lower lip between pearly white teeth and tugged gently.

"_Are." _Releasing it, she pressed a firm, open-mouthed kiss to her jaw.

"_Amazing." _She tilted her head and connected their lips briefly, mouth still slightly open, soft and just totally intoxicating to Rosalie, who leaned in to kiss her more deeply.

"_Uh uh, Rose, you have work to do still." _Bella released her hold on the almost inappropriately low riding denim and sat back on down, crossing her legs slowly.

"_You could help, you know…" _Rosalie arched a brow as she teased. Bella stood up and reached over to grab a line that Rosalie was about to coil. The blonde playfully slapped her hand away. _"Kidding! You're not allowed to help, I'm wooing you, remember?"_

"_Oh that's right, how could I forget?" _Bella smirked as she ran the offending hand over the polished wood of the wheel. _"But seriously, Rose, thank you for this. You really are amazing." _

She smiled at her sincerely, eyes full of something that Rosalie had been seeing more often in them recently, but had yet to identify. _Like? Lust? Amusement? Pride? Love? _Rosalie would have been happy with any of them, except maybe the last one. That word scared her. Love meant things would change; that Bella would change. Rosalie wasn't sure if she wanted that yet. Or truthfully, she knew she wanted it, but she wasn't sure how she'd handle it. No good ever came out of anyone loving her. And she was so happy right now. She didn't want things to change. Rosalie feared change, even if it eventually turned out for the better. She had a nice, cliché, and totally irrational fear of the unknown, and she knew it.

Rosalie quickly shut her annoying inner whatever-it-was down and returned her attention to the smirking, extremely sexy brunette that watched her from her seat as she leisurely pulled Rosalie's borrowed chocolate cashmere crewneck over her head and shook her hair out. _Did she mean for that to be so seductive? _Rosalie wondered as she felt a surge lower down. _Did she really mean to pull that off so slowly? _

Rosalie hid her gaze well; she was much better at discretely watching Bella than Bella was at watching her.

"_Amazing, huh?" _The blonde quipped as she put her left leg up on the foot-high lip of the transom in the center of the deck, and faced Bella's side of the boat, bending over nonchalantly to roll the cuff on her jeans back up to mid-calf (and giving Bella a nice cleavage shot.)

While she fussed with the cuff, she raised her piercing green eyes to meet Bella's, giving her a look that was intentionally sultry.

The "under look" she was giving Bella was a favorite move of hers, one she'd learned from reading about Lord Byron, the poet, author, and famous lady-killer, when she was in tenth grade.

"_Am I really?" _She purred, and she gazed at Bella intently, enjoying watching Bella lose a bit of her own cocky seductive smirk as Rosalie's eyes caused her to squirm slightly in her seat. Rosalie reached up and put both hands on the mast above them that bisected the deck, letting it support her as she leaned in towards Bella. She hung from the strong steel beam in a way that almost completely replicated her first attempt at seducing Bella on that spring day back in May, when she'd hung from a pull-up bar and caused Bella to drop that wine glass.

Bella's mouth gaped slightly as her eyes raked over Rosalie's golden, taught muscles; Rosalie knew they were now fully engaged, looking their longest and leanest. She also knew that right now she was a fit as she could possibly be without looking stringy; she made sure she was always the most toned Victoria's Secret model, not the most creepily jacked mid-90s heroin chic Calvin Klein model. Bella was like the least toned of the Victoria's Secret models – not the same level of muscle, but definitely just as hot. Everyone had their favorites, and Bella's body type was far and away Rosalie's favorite.

While Bella leered at Rosalie, Rosalie couldn't help but leer back at her; her beautiful, creamy, just slightly tanned skin, her touch-ably soft lips, hands, arms, cheeks, ears, neck, nose – Rosalie took in every inch of Bella's skin that was uncovered. And let her imagination picture every inch of Bella's that was. Rosalie struggled to maintain her smoldering glare as the image of Bella in the same pose – slender legs crossed, back slightly arched as she leaned back in the seat, arms fully out and resting casually across the edge of the hull on either side of her – Rosalie groaned inwardly as she pictured Bella in that same pose, but clad only in the dark navy lingerie from earlier that day. _Jesus Rosalie, focus, you're seducing her, not the other way around. You're the predator; she's the prey right? No, not right, but whatever, get it together. _

Rosalie sighed audibly as she wondered if she was ever going to be able to shut that nagging internal voice off. Bella, still leering of course, took Rosalie's sigh as an invitation, and made a motion to get up, but an inner voice of her own must have been at work, because she stayed put.

She bit her lip as her mesmerizing brown eyes met Rosalie's smoldering ones. Rosalie smirked as she brought one hand down and curled her finger at Bella, beckoning her over in the same "_come hither" _ motion that she began to urgently want to make again, but in an entirely different, far dirtier fashion.

Bella's sudden trepidation, and then confident recovery as the sexy brunette suddenly smirked as well and stood up, absolutely washed Rosalie in desire. Bella must have felt something similar, because she suddenly rushed over to Rosalie and caught her lips urgently, grasping and tugging at Rosalie's wind-swept pale-gold tresses as she pushed her body into the taller girl aggressively.

Rosalie grabbed her around the waist and kissed her back passionately, granting entrance to a hot, eager tongue almost immediately and meeting it, surprising herself as she released a wanton moan. Both girl's hands were everywhere as they grasped and kneaded and caressed each other desperately and their tongues dueled, neither girl submitting or dominating.

"_God Rose," _Bella gasped as she broke for air. _"When you kiss me it's like you're fucking me with your tongue." _Rosalie's knees nearly buckled at her comment.

The words that escaped her own mouth were entirely unplanned: _"No it's like you're fucking me with yours; God Bella, no one kisses me like you do." _Rosalie also gasped for air as she clung to the smaller girl.

"_Good, keep it that way," _Bella husked low. _"You're mine. Only I get to kiss you this hard and deep; only I get to fuck you with my tongue."_

For defensive, control-obsessed, frighteningly self-protective Rosalie, Bella's comment should have sent her reeling and cold; she should have shut down. No one ever got to have any say over Rosalie; no one owned any part of her.

But instead, this newly possessive Bella made her almost pass-out as arousal and desire flooded her in a wave so great that she actually collapsed into Bella. She clung to her as the smaller girl dominated her, thrusting into her mouth and pressing her up against the side of the boat's cabin, and Rosalie moaned into her; all as Rosalie _again_ ceded her precious control to the gorgeous brunette. Rosalie in this moment was in no way able to think straight enough to wonder her usual "_what is this girl doing to me"_; but anyone that ever known her at all, if they'd been able to observe her right now, would have most certainly wondered it for her.

###

Rosalie's arms were above her head, held up in the air by strong hands firmly affixed to a toned upper arm on either side, as Bella pushed her back into the side of the cabin, connecting her body to Rosalie's at every possible point and kissing her hungrily. She kissed her deep and hard, tongue rubbing and thrusting against the blonde's in powerful, hypnotic rhythm. _"Jesus Rosalie, you are so utterly, completely fucking gorgeous, do you have any idea how much you turn me on?" _

As Bella continued to ravish her, Rosalie could only think how much Bella actually turned _her_ on; more than anyone else that had ever touched her. As wet lips alternated between passionate kisses to her neck and even more passionate kisses to her lips, Rosalie still started to feel, rather than hear or see, the onlookers that had begun to watch their passionate make out from their own boats in the marina. Bella clearly did not notice or care, just as she hadn't in the Lexus on 85th street. She just continued to thrust her tongue against Rosalie's with fervor, moaning into her mouth with almost every push.

###

"_Bella," _Rosalie whispered hoarsely. _"Inside." _Bella knew exactly what she meant, and fumbled with the latch on the cabin door to her right, sliding it across and yanking the doors open. She pulled Rosalie towards her and turned her forcefully, tongues and lips still fused as she backed up and somehow managed to walk backwards down the steep steps into the cabin, all without breaking the kiss. Rosalie placed Bella's hands on her waist and held on to either side of the hatch so that Bella could use her body for balance as she guided her down below.

Although their kisses did get sloppier and shallower as they maneuvered towards the bed in the back of the cabin, neither girl's lips ever lost contact, both of them needing to touch and connect with each other so badly that when Bella fell backward onto the bed and Rosalie climbed on top of her, arching her back as she crawled forward like some oversexed blonde panther, the two girls had actually managed the almost impossible task of navigating all the way down, into, and then across the obstacle ridden, narrow cabin while remaining completely connected, without even realizing what they had done.

Bella tugged at Rosalie's tank top and brought it up over her head, letting her neither sit up nor halt their passionate embrace, and even nipping the blonde's swollen red lower lip _through_ the ribbed cotton fabric as it passed over her face. She unclasped Rosalie's black silk bra and tossed it in the corner with the tank stop as Rosalie ran her hands up Bella's sides, dragging her white v-neck t-shirt with them. She balanced on one knee so that she could maneuver and pressed her mouth so fully on to Bella's, their lips bearing most of her upper body weight so she could remove the shirt, that they were inadvertently kissing deeper than they'd ever kissed before.

Rosalie whimpered when she realized that Bella wasn't wearing a bra, and continued to whimper as Bella wrapped her arms around the taller girl's toned back and rolled them over. Both girls kicked first at Rosalie's jeans, and then at Bella's as they desperately sought the intimacy and intensity that their full skin-on-skin contact would render. And when all clothing except for the skimpy fabric covering their damp cores was finally removed, they embraced tightly, sighing and moaning into each other's soft, desperate mouths as they tried to connect in every way possible. Feet rubbed against feet, legs tangled and caressed, stomachs pressed fully flush, and tongues connected in a way that made both girls light-headed; their arms surrounded each other's warm bodies as each girl seemingly tried to consume the other.

Ostensibly sharing the same mind, as Rosalie ran her hand down Bella's flat stomach and dipped it under the waistband of her panties, threading her fingers through Bella's neat patch of downy hair; she felt Bella do the same to her. Rosalie always marveled at its softness; Rosalie herself had always amazed former lovers with how unusually soft she was down there – she knew the softness of her narrow strip of feathery blonde hair was quite unusual. But as she caressed Bella's own light brown curls on her way father down, she was again so surprised that she'd actually found a girl that was softer than she was.

"_You're so perfect," _she breathed into Bella's lips as she parted her delicate folds and began to rub her from her center up to her clit and back down again, spreading her heavenly wetness over the flesh she was fast becoming addicted to touching. She felt only slightly uncomfortable as Bella's fingers mirrored her own actions, and sighed deeply into the kiss as she willed herself to relax and focus on the feel of Bella against her; her lips; her tongue; her skin; her fingers. As she stroked Bella up and down, and the smaller girl matched her pace and movements with sensual precision, the feel of the tightening in her abdomen and the erotic warmth that was spreading through her body began to overshadow any emotional discomfort caused by Bella's intimate touches.

###

The rocking of the boat against the gentle waves of the marina only increased the sensuality of their experience, and Rosalie was too distracted by her own arousal to be surprised by how good Bella felt on top of her, her soft body covering hers, gentle but firm fingers caressing her most intimate area in delicious rhythm as they kissed and rocked together almost in-time with the waves.

They still connected with tremendous passion, but their feverish desperation had turned more into deliberate, erotic movements. Although still firmer and faster than before, the girls again found themselves actually making love for the second time that day.

Neither was in a hurry to progress farther, and Bella seemed to be luxuriating in the sensation of Rosalie's body and fingers just as much as Rosalie luxuriated in hers. She wasn't sure what was more arousing, the feel of Bella touching her, or the feel of her touching Bella. Either way, both feelings kept her whimpering and moaning into their kisses frequently, almost as frequently as Bella moaned and groaned into hers.

They stayed that way for almost a half an hour, both girls shuddering and filling with warmth as small peaks hit their bodies over and over, nothing too intense to stop (or make Rosalie uncomfortable), just enough to wash them in heat and pleasure again and again as they consumed each other with touches and kisses.

###

It was Bella that moved first, penetrating Rosalie gently with two fingers and beginning to thrust into her slowly. As much as she didn't want to upset Bella, the action caught her off-guard, and the waves of arousal filling her body were immediately replaced by an overpowering course of anxiety. She immediately stiffened. Although Bella's fingers inside of her made a part of Rosalie feel good, it made a much larger part of her feel uncomfortable; fearful. After only a minute, she couldn't take it anymore.

"_Stop," _Rosalie whispered as she pulled Bella out of her and gently pushed her hand away, not wanting to offend her. Bella, already concerned when Rosalie broke the kiss to speak, now looked even more so, her eyes searching Rosalie's as she whispered back: _"did I do something wrong"_ with worry apparent in her breathy tone.

"_No," _Rosalie still whispered, feeling embarrassed and ashamed, and wanting desperately to break her gaze but knowing that it would only upset Bella more. She looked up at the beautiful brunette with pleading eyes. _"I can't; I'm not ready." _

"_Oh, does it hurt, you felt really ready so I just didn't think but I can take more time if you're not, you know, um wet enough, I don't want to hurt-" _Bella stopped as the realization dawned on her; Rosalie wasn't talking about _that_ kind of ready.

"_Is it me?" _She asked quietly.

"_No, I'm just," _Rosalie sighed, fighting the urge to get up and run away. She didn't need to do that; Bella wasn't going to hurt her – she reminded herself that allowing herself to react as she naturally would just do more harm and could cost her the girl she wanted desperately not to lose. _"I'm just…" _She tried again, willing herself to be brave and continue. "…_I'm not ready." _

Bella parted her perfect, swollen lips to speak, but Rosalie cut her off. _"Bella," _she whispered. _"I don't want this to come out wrong, because I don't ever want you to think that I just presume to know how you feel about me, so I'm not making an assumption because I take your feelings for me for granted and just assume stuff, but I just don't know how else to say this…" _Bella looked down at her tenderly, her eyes urging Rosalie to continue. "…_It's just, if you care about me at all, you won't ask me why I can't, okay? You'll just trust that it's not you and know that I want to, and I will be able to, but I'm just not ready yet, okay?" _Rosalie sighed again, relieved and at the same time frightened that she'd gotten the words out.

"_Okay. We can take as much time as you need. But you're not wrong to presume that I care about you – I do, Rosalie. I care about you a lot. So much, actually. I really, really do." _Bella leaned down and kissed her gently, cupping her cheeks and stroking them tenderly; lovingly, in truth. Rosalie kissed her back, and fought back a strange tightness in her throat. _Am I going to cry? _She was worried. But in her 29 years, she'd learned to control so many things, that overcoming the need to cry now came naturally to her, and she fought back tears easily.

###

She let Bella kiss her for a few minutes, but kept her eyes tightly shut. She didn't want to look at her right now. It wasn't Bella, it was the feelings that anyone would have stirred in her if they'd done the same. She didn't want to look at Bella while those icky, uncomfortable emotions filled her head and hurt her heart; she didn't want to associate this beautiful, perfect girl with that part of her.

She knew they would pass sooner if she distracted herself, so she broke their kiss and flipped Bella over, allowing herself to meet the smaller girl's eyes only once more so that she could ask, seductively but still with warmth in her voice: _"Would it be okay if I practiced what we did this morning again, though?" _

Either by some stroke of luck, or by some chance that Bella's understanding of Rosalie was more thorough than she'd thought possible, instead of protesting, Bella smiled wide and nodded enthusiastically. Rosalie smiled just as wide in return, and gave her one last tender kiss before she eagerly kissed her way down to Bella's center and dove in, thrilled to distract herself with the task of trying to give the girl that she had grown to care so much about more pleasure than she'd ever known…

###

LATER THAT EVENING, BACK ON THE BEACH AS THEY WALKED:

After plying Rosalie with that mouthful from the champagne bottle held by playful hands attached to slender arms that snaked around the gorgeous brunette from behind, Bella had managed to successfully mount herself on Rosalie's strong back, and was now taking swigs of Dom as Rosalie carried her down the beach, finally giving in to her request for a _"piggy-back ride, pretty blonde pony" _after much badgering on Bella's part.

They were giggling and talking aimlessly as Rosalie dipped her toes in the surf, when Bella suddenly yelped _"Oh look! Rose, put me down, put me down!" _Bella thrust the champagne bottle into Rosalie's hands, and the beautiful blonde watched quizzically as Bella darted over to a patch of sand and got down on her hands and knees, quickly swiping whatever is was that had caught her attention.

"_What'd you find, a diamond ring or something?" _Rosalie chuckled as she loped over to the enchanting girl.

"_No, look!" _Bella commanded, shoving her hand up at the blonde standing over her and grinning quite proudly. _"It's a pure white stone like the ones in that silver bowl by the bed!" _

The rock in question was a small, round piece of quartz that had been ground and polished down by the rough Atlantic. Beaches in the Hamptons were peppered with these smooth little pebbles, and Rosalie liked to collect the whitest, most perfectly round ones and keep them in little silver bowls on her bedside tables, both here and in Manhattan. They reminded her of the beach; of summer, and happier times. Cliché? Maybe, but she didn't really care. She loved those perfect little white stones, and she always thought they looked so pretty against the shine of a small sterling silver nut bowl.

She smiled at Bella's enthusiasm; the girl seemed so pleased with her find. As Bella looked up at her, her striking brown eyes gleaming and a smug, clearly satisfied smile gracing her features, Rosalie couldn't help but smile as she shook her head in wonderment at how perfect Bella was. For her.

Bella mistook her response as one of disbelief: _"Don't make fun of me!" _She chided. _"I'm sentimental, alright? I want to always remember this trip."_

"_No, no, I'm not making fun of you at all." _Rosalie chuckled as she offered Bella a hand and pulled her to her feet. Bella, although she accepted her help, huffed dramatically and scowled at the blonde, one hand clutching her prize tightly. Her expression only made Rosalie chuckle more. _"No, no Bella, I'm serious, I'm not making fun of you," _she insisted, waving her hands in protest.

She smiled affectionately (the second rarest of Rosalie Hale's smiles, trumped only by a loving one) at the scowling girl in front of her, and reached out to rub her arms. _"No Bella, I swear, I just think its funny, you know?" _Rosalie looked down at the sand that her elegant, pedicured toes had begun to kick. _"I just think you're really great, that's all…" _She continued to focus intently on the beach as she turned to face the ocean, trailing off as she finished her train of thought: _"…you're just so great that it's almost funny…"_

Bella linked their hands and began to walk down the sand, urging Rosalie to walk with her. Rosalie complied, but spoke no further as Bella pulled her close, weaving her arm through Rosalie's and pressing their sides together, their fingers remaining laced as they continued down the coast.

But when Bella sighed contentedly and leaned her head on Rosalie's shoulder, the sudden warmth she felt in her heart spurred her on. _"Let's get a collection for you then?" _Rosalie offered in a voice breathier than she'd anticipated. She felt Bella turn to look more at her, but the beautiful girl kept her head on Rosalie's shoulder. _"I want you to remember this too, so let's find you more. Only I want to be the only one of us allowed to pick them up." _

"_How come?" _Bella murmured from her spot as they kept walking.

"_Because I want to collect them for you. So you'll always know they're from me." _Rosalie felt suddenly awkward and vulnerable at her own sentiment, but a squeeze from Bella's hand and a tender kiss to her cheek quickly calmed her.

"_Okay this can't be real; you can't be real, but I'm just going to go with it, Rosalie Hale. Let's find me some white rocks!"_

They spent the rest of their walk collecting the delicate quartz hidden in the sand, searching and gathering until the last bit of light faded away. Rosalie clutched the perfect amount of smooth white stones (perfect for what she had begun immediately planning as soon as Bella showed interest in them) in her palm, and they walked hand in hand back to the house. They'd been gone about an hour and a half, and it was almost eight o'clock – exactly enough time for the other secret scheme Rosalie had running back at the house to play out.

###

Bella's absolute amazement upon discovering the surprise Rosalie had waiting at the house was, Rosalie though, worth quintuple what Rosalie had spent to have the chef from a renowned local French restaurant prepare a meal for them at the house.

After initially questioning _"why is there a strange man with a mustache cooking in your kitchen," _Bella had leapt into Rosalie's arms and attacked her with kisses, telling Rosalie _"you're fucking crazy" _over and over after Rosalie explained to her that she wanted to eat outside on the water with her to celebrate the end of summer, and then led her out to the beautifully decorated table that Anne Gregory had set up on the deck while the girls were walking the beach.

They kissed and laughed and flirted as they feasted on sole meuniere and haricot verts and chocolate soufflé, and finished three bottles of champagne - first the dom from the beach, and then both bottles of Cristal. As Bella's buzz got stronger, she began to pepper in _"no one has ever surprised me like this" _or _"I can't believe you did this for ME" _ or _"you're not real; this has to be my imagination" _ just about every third sentence as Bella shared stories from her days sailing in Florida, and Rosalie (after much prodding) told a captivated Bella all about her sailing experience, astounded by Bella's interest and excitement as she heard about her races and adventures and victories on the water.

Rosalie did her own share of buzzed interrupting, but it was more along the lines of _"you REALLY want to hear about this" _questioning and _"don't worry, most of the time I wonder if you're real too" _re-assuring of her girl (who still managed to look stunning in distressed jeans and Rosalie's black fleece jacket from the sail; Rosalie hoped that Bella thought the same of her, as Bella had insisted that she wear jeans and her grey fleece so as not to make the brunette feel under-dressed.)

The strong winds from earlier had completely died, and the two girls lay together on the double chaise after dinner, drinking Bella's beloved Cristal (_"I'll never drink anything else again" _she'd joked faux- haughtily) and reveling in the crystal clear, calm Long Island night. They managed to get through a full half-hour of after-dinner stargazing and talking before the chaise became the setting of another passionate make out. It wasn't long after that before Rosalie had Bella naked in her bed, panting her name as the blonde alternated between the tender, increasingly emotional love-making that she was entirely new to; and the hot, passionate fucking that drove Bella to insane climaxes.

###

They stayed up until almost 4:00am, kissing and touching and rubbing and stroking, making love and then fucking, and then making love again, over and over, with neither girl wanting or needing more than a few minutes of rest in-between. Rosalie's assertion on the boat earlier hadn't been wrong.

This had been the greatest day of her entire life. 

###

Sunday morning wasn't much different than Saturday night had been. Rosalie woke up at her usual, barely-sunrise time, and surprised herself by the strength of the desire she felt to stay holding Bella until the beautiful brunette woke up as well.

But she wasn't ready; waking up with another person – for Rosalie, that was an intimacy that she hadn't been willing to share with anyone since her teenage years. She knew her motivations behind avoiding it were flawed and abnormal, but her feelings persisted despite any application of logic.

She gingerly untangled herself from the smaller girl, and padded over to the bathroom to begin her normal morning routine, allowing herself one long gaze at the sleeping brunette before she left.

###

An hour and a half later, sometime around 9:00am, Rosalie emerged from the crashing surf in front of the guest house. Instead of a long distance swim, Rosalie had chosen to capitalize on the massive waves the previous day's high winds had produced, and had spent her morning far from shore at the break where she (and a plethora of locals) usually surfed. When she had arrived at 7:30 (later than was standard for her; but Bella had worn her out), three guys were already mid-session. They greeted each other amicably, and after a half hour spent diving for and surfacing with the cement blocks local surfers had dropped to the bottom of the 12 ft waters for training, the size of the waves, almost six feet overhead, proved too irresistible to Rosalie. She spent the rest of her time body surfing.

Rosalie loved the feel of the waves as they propelled her; and embraced the intense moments when they caught her, sometimes purposely allowing it to happen – the response to getting caught in a wave was to completely relax one's body and let the water take control, and Rosalie relished that feeling, even enjoying the fleeting pain that she felt as she was slammed into the surf. It hurt, but the pain made her feel alive; the wrath of the waves made her forget everything but the moment. It was twisted; this she knew, but as long as she didn't share her true feelings with anyone else, she didn't see the harm in indulging in them.

So as Rosalie emerged from the surf, shaking her head and running fingers through her wet blonde hair, she was more than surprised to see the slender figure of Bella Swan awake and waiting patiently for her from a seated position on the sand. Rosalie was wearing the white version of her "Dr. No" bikini; the true replica, right down to the small, fixed blade knife Rosalie always carried when she surfed or was around surfers, after almost drowning herself when her leg tangled in the leash of her surfboard and held her down underwater near the coral where her board had been trapped after a rather epic wipeout in Hawaii. A random surfer with a knife had saved her life, and she always carried a knife with her after that so that she could always be ready to do the same. Despite its practical purpose, Rosalie could only imagine what that knife looked like, attached to her white bikini as if she was purposely re-creating the famous image from that classic film.

And the way she looked to Bella - long wet blonde hair, even longer tanned legs and that sleek body covered only by a soaking white bikini – it clearly had a positive, although unintentional effect. After exclaiming _"of course, you're a fucking Bond girl; my very own fucking Bond girl" _as her eyes seemed to relish the sight in front of her, Bella all but dragged Rosalie back to the house and begged to be touched.

###

Three hours and countless intense moments later, Bella sat on the bed as Rosalie packed her bag, her fingers trailing through the smooth stones in the silver bowl on the bedside table. _"This bowl is so beautiful – the initials on it and the date – those are yours, right? And that's your birthday?" _

"_Yup. My father had two made to hold my mother's saltines after I was born. I was, not surprisingly, an extremely difficult delivery, and after an emergency c-section, my mother was bed-ridden for weeks and only able to eat saltines. So my dad had two of these made for her." _Rosalie gently took the bowl from Bella's hands and held it up to the light.

"_There's another? I want it!" _Bella smiled and then blushed at her outburst.

"_Not sure how my mother would feel about me giving away a sterling silver nut bowl from Asprey; she's pretty selfish when it comes to our possessions…"_

"_I'm sure she is," _Bella blushed furiously, clearly embarrassed. _"I was totally just kidding, anyways."_

Rosalie smiled reassuringly, and quickly ran to the living room to grab something while Bella was in the bathroom.

###

Hours later, Rosalie kissed Bella gently outside the door to her apartment. _"Thank you for this weekend, Bella."_

"_Thank you for being so amazing, I still don't believe you're real…" _Bella whispered her reply, and she clung to Rosalie for much longer than she should have before they finally broke their embrace and parted ways.

###

A/N: Review this sucker if you don't mind. Because I really want to know what you guys thought about the chapter and Rosalie's response to Bella touching her. Rosalie's got some serious baggage, and even though this is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg in terms of her shit, I'm nervous that it won't go over well. Please let me know, even if it's just a few lines. Its super appreciated and would be really helpful before I go forward.


	17. Chapter 17

Ownership: Nothing but the story (but seriously, if an author is lame enough to actually sue someone for writing fan fiction, "fan" being the operative word, then I say maybe it's time to re-evaluate your life choices…)

Author's Note: Sorry about this next chapter. It had to happen…

###

Rosalie sat alone in the backyard on a white wicker chair in late October. It had been more-or-less a month since she'd taken Bella to East Hampton, and it had been a pretty amazing month at that.

###

Rosalie had re-scheduled and greatly reduced the number of her social commitments in October so that she could be with the gorgeous brunette. And from the moment they returned from the beach, they'd spent almost every evening together; hanging out and joking with Emmett and Jasper in the backyard (as the boys themselves grew fonder and fonder of Bella); sneaking out for evening walks in the park (Bella confessed to Rosalie that she was never scared as long as she was with her); sneaking out (again) for cozy dinners; cuddling on the couch in front of Rosalie's massive, 62-inch plasma as they watched whatever was currently on Bella's beloved Discovery ID channel (the girl had quite a few quirks, all of which Rosalie found endearing); making out in the back of movie theaters; and more than anything else, having sex in just about every possible place they could and as often as they could without getting caught. The place usually ended up being Rosalie's bedroom, and occasionally Bella's if her roommates were away for the night (which was rare), or if it was very late and the boys were still in the midst of one of the many, frequent parties they threw in Rosalie's apartment.

It was Bella that insisted on all the sneaking around, still very scared of being found out (except when she was drunk and then Rosalie had to be surreptitious for her.) Rosalie wasn't exactly thrilled that Bella still cared so much about keeping their relationship a secret; quite the opposite, actually. But she wore her mask of indifference well.

She still kept most of her past and personal life _outside_ of Bella and their lives in the apartment to herself, and she knew this frustrated Bella. But the fact that she had to constantly sneak around with the girl, always making her necessary exit with the utmost stealth after their intimate encounters in Bella's room, and always having to wake Bella at 4 or 5 in the morning so that the brunette could sneak back into her own apartment without raising any suspicion; well this frustrated Rosalie. So she didn't feel especially guilty about annoying the smaller girl with her vague responses and expert deflections.

But for the most part, Rosalie kept her own frustrations on the back burner in favor of simply allowing herself to enjoy the moments they spent together.

And after a month spent almost inseparable from each other, Rosalie's feelings for Bella had only grown even stronger. And she knew that Bella was feeling the same way.

###

So Rosalie lay back in the chair on that chilly October night, flicking at the stones of the gravel covering beneath her with the black patent leather toe cap on her red and black Chanel ballet flats. She rubbed her lean, skinny jean-covered thighs and picked at a hole on the distressed denim. A chilly breeze teased her long blonde locks, and she pulled at the sides of a long, black cashmere shawl-collared cardigan, wrapping it tightly around her and re-tying the belt to conserve more body heat. She hated the cold. But not as much as she hated how the evening she'd just had had ended.

###

A few hours earlier:

Rosalie arrived home from a meeting that Friday and headed straight out to the backyard; Emmett had been sending her insistent "_get your ass home and outside" _text messages for the past hour. She emerged into the crisp fall evening to find Emmett holding court at their outdoor table with Jasper, Bella, Leah, Alice, and Jacob, one of Emmett's fraternity brothers in college and also one of Rosalie's more consistent hook-ups since the handsome, muscular, olive-skinned boy had moved to the city two years ago.

Jacob was a back-up quarterback for the Jets, joining the team after a two-year tour of duty with the Marines in Afghanistan. He had forgone much more prominent and lucrative offers from the NFL immediately after graduating from Dartmouth in favor of serving his country, and Rosalie respected this very much. Jacob was honorable, loyal, kind, and fun; the type of guy that was always up for anything. And he was also _extremely _attractive, with a massive, imposing physique, a sexy, boy-ish smile, and sparkling eyes. Plus once he realized that Rosalie wasn't interested in a real relationship, he was one of the rare guys that didn't freak-out; he accepted her and just seemed genuinely grateful and happy to see her when she felt so moved. He didn't pressure her, and Rosalie respected this as well. They first hooked up at a party her brother threw to celebrate Jacob making the team after trying out as a walk-on; Rosalie neither knew nor cared about football, but she was aware that this was an impressive achievement. Although not 'friends,' as Rosalie had very few people she truly considered or allowed to be her real 'friends', she always enjoyed herself around Jacob, and even now they occasionally trained together when their schedules allowed it. But Jacob was also a relentless flirt, and Rosalie was still quite attracted to him (especially after a few drinks), last sleeping with him barely a week before Bella had walked over to her chaise and into her life.

As she watched Bella and Leah, the two insane football fans, chatting his ear off and gazing at him adoringly, she felt a twinge of something nervy in her throat. _Am I jealous? _She wondered. She didn't think she liked watching Bella gaze adoringly at someone else very much at all.

Luckily (or not so luckily) for her, as soon as Jacob saw the stunning blonde in the doorway, he got up from his conversation with the girls mid-sentence and ran to her. As he exclaimed _"my gorgeous, cold-hearted Rosalie – how is my favorite ice queen?_ " (exclaimed affectionately, regardless of the word choice) and bounded over, kissing her fully on the mouth and swinging her around as he hugged her, Rosalie caught sight of Bella and the _extremely_ perturbed scowl on her face as she watched them. She knew then that her own jealousy wasn't going to be nearly as much of an issue tonight as Bella's would be. _Fuck, _she mused, _this night is NOT going to go well…_

###

Jacob carried Rosalie over to the table, ignoring her unintentionally flirty protests to put her down and her painless swats to his chest. The table was set up with two chairs at each end and benches spanning its width; benches that could fit two with plenty of room, and easily three as long as its occupants didn't mind being somewhat squished together. Jacob brought Rosalie down to the bench on the far side of the table and sat down with her in his lap. She slid off and settled herself, packed tightly between a gleeful Jacob on her left, and a far less gleeful Bella on her right. Emmet sat to Bella's right at the head of the left side of the table if one was facing it from the doorway to their apartment. On the bench opposite Rosalie, Alice and then Jasper slouched comfortably, their backs to the building and doorway to the backyard. Leah, craving the spotlight as always, was plopped arrogantly at the other head of the table, with Jacob to her right.

"_Hey Bella," _Rosalie greeted her warmly and threw an arm around her in a half hug, and was immediately discouraged when the brunette stiffened and uttered a quiet, terse _"hi" _ before turning to Emmett and asking some banal question about his fraternity.

"_God its good to see you, Rosalie!" _Jacob exclaimed as he wrapped a massive arm around her. His warmth and enthusiasm were in obvious contrast to Bella's cold disinterest. _"Did you see my game the other night – I played the entire fourth quarter and we won!" _Jacob's genuine love of life was contagious, even to Rosalie. She smiled proudly, and seeing as Bella was still completely turned away and talking to her brother, she decided that it was okay to turn and place a hand on his stomach, patting it as she congratulated him.

"_Jake, that's great," _Rosalie began warmly (but being careful to not sound flirtatious just in case Bella could hear – Rosalie did NOT want to upset her more.) "_Of course I didn't see it; you know I don't watch that stuff. Why on earth didn't you text me so I could tune in or TiVo it?" _He smiled, his charming, impish grin lighting up his face as he retorted:

"_Uh, I didn't exactly plan on Sanchez getting hurt, pretty girl…"_

"_Well then I guess I'll have to start Tivoing all your games from now on, just in case…"_

"_Really?" _Jacob sounded legitimately surprised and touched.

"_Really." _Rosalie countered as she moved her hand back into her lap. Bella must have turned at one point and noticed their contact, or maybe she was just angry at Rosalie in general, because Rosalie could feel the slender body pressed up next to her stiffen even more as the beautiful girl tried to scoot as far away from Rosalie as she could, which was basically impossible on the small bench. Rosalie was surprised by such a harsh reaction from the girl who had been so awfully clear with her about not wanting anyone to know about them. Rosalie wondered what exactly Bella expected her to do?

"_Oh shit Rosalie," _Jacob continued. _ "I almost forgot to ask you – can you come to mid-town tomorrow to train? If you want to, I mean? A bunch of the guys from the team are going to be there and-"_

"_Wait, WHAT?" _The always irritating voice of Bella's sister Leah cut them off. Rosalie ignored her, grabbing her phone and quickly checking her calendar. Jacob's dark eyes were still fixed on the blonde, and she nodded yes to him. _"YOU are going to train with the New York Jets? Are you fucking kidding me?" _Leah fixed her own dark eyes on Rosalie, a look of disdain plastered across her face as usual. Rosalie didn't respond to her, simply raising an eyebrow in her direction as if to say _'seriously?'_. Jacob turned and looked over at Leah.

"_Well it's not like a team practice or anything Lisa, it's just me and some guys." _Jacob kept his voice calm and kind. He truly was a nice guy. Rosalie looked down to hide her smirk at Jacob's misnomer.

"_Well can I come too?" _Leah was nothing if not bold – brazen actually, but good for her for trying, Rosalie supposed.

"_Um…" _Jacob began. _"I'm not sure if it's something that you could really handle, no offense, I mean."_

"_What? It's just working out, right? I work out all the time." _Leah persisted. _When exactly? _Rosalie thought in her head, but resisted the urge to be a total bitch to the girl. She was still Bella's sister, after all.

"_Um no, it's not exactly just working out." _Jacob was being thankfully evasive; another thing Rosalie had always liked about him. He understood her need for privacy and respected it. It wasn't '_just working out' _at all_; _Rosalie had being boxing and training in martial arts since she was 18, and Jacob was himself an excellent fighter. He actually planned to join the UFC if his football career stalled. And when Rosalie had asked Jacob not to broadcast her own involvement in the sport and their sparring sessions, Jacob had agreed without question. _Consistent,_ Rosalie mused. _Wish I could say the same thing about Bella…_

###

"_Okay, now that my beloved big sister is here, let's get started." _Emmett's voice boomed over the din of conversation, silencing everyone immediately.

"_What are we playing, Em?" _Rosalie questioned him as she sat straight up. Jacob's arm was draped behind her on the back of the bench, but she didn't have any intention of leaning back into it.

"_Circle of Truth, baby!" _Emmett smirked as Rosalie groaned. Circle of Truth was essentially just the "truth" part of truth or dare, except that _everyone_ but the questioner had to answer each question in a circle. If you didn't want to answer a question, you had to take a shot. Not a sip of beer, a _shot. _So unless you wanted to get completely plastered, it was really in your best interest to just answer the damn question. Rosalie got up, muttering _"absolutely not" _as she attempted to leave, but Jacob's strong hands pulled her back down and held her in place.

"_Rosalie, you missed the only game I've actually gotten to play all season, you owe me," _Jacob pleaded. A chorus of _'yeah Rosalie's and _'_come on's _were un-moving, but when Bella placed her hand briefly on Rosalie's thigh and asked her to _"please stay", _Rosalie of course caved.

_I hate what this girl does to me…_

_###_

Luckily, the game started with Jacob and ran around the circle clockwise, so Rosalie didn't need to come up with some ridiculous, lame question any time soon. Rosalie glared over at Emmett, but he smiled reassuringly and mouthed _"it's okay." _Rosalie felt a bit more comfortable as Emmett silently reminded her that he would, as always, protect her and deflect any questions that got too personal. _Or too painful, _Rosalie mused; although for her the line between personal and painful was decidedly murky.

Jacob went first. He smiled broadly as he asked _"have you ever kissed a girl?" _This game was going to be interesting. Leah answered first with a _"no" –_ a total lie, Rosalie knew, but whatever. Jasper of course said yes, and as did Alice, much to Rosalie's relief to not be the only "_yes" _among the girls. Emmet was another yes, and Rosalie tried not to let her mind go to the dark place as Bella answered with a confident _"no." _When it was her turn, Rosalie rolled her eyes and responded to the question with _"of course." _

"_God girls," _Jacob groaned, directing his comment at the two sisters. _"You've never kissed another girl? That's so boring…"_

Leah went next with _"describe your typical_ _sex noises and if you dirty talk, what you usually say." _ As they went around the table, it was revealed that Alice was actually a screamer, but _"oh god" _was the extent of her talk in bed; Jasper was a grunter who laughed with the boys as he claimed he couldn't think of anything he _hadn't_ said during sex, but he most preferred the standard _"you like it?" _line of dirty talking. Emmett's answer was much the same, although, as he was very well-endowed and extremely vocal about it, he made mention of slightly more descriptive questions during sex (_do you like it when I blank you with my giant blank , etc.) _Rosalie covered her ears and Jacob pulled her in so she could bury her face in his chest. She wriggled out of his grasp, waiting anxiously for Bella's response.

"_Well," _the gorgeous girl began, blushing and looking extremely nervous. _"I guess I'm um, if I'm being completely honest, I'm a pretty loud moaner, and I scream a little if it gets really good…" That_ response, actually an honest one, sent heat right down to Rosalie's core. _"And when I get close…" _Bella continued, _"I think I say 'fuck' and 'oh god' a lot…"_

"_Since when do you talk during sex?" _A deep voice carried across the backyard, and Rosalie looked up to find its source. Edward was walking over to the table with a bouquet of pink carnations. _God those flowers are so fucking tacky, _Rosalie thought, thoroughly annoyed and getting pretty upset. _Fuck, she's still with him?_ _She's still WITH him? _ Rosalie had foolishly assumed that, after hearing or seeing neither hide nor hair of Edward, and having spent basically every single night with Bella for the entirety of the past month, he was out of the picture.

Rosalie willed herself to appear nonplussed while her heart, having just dropped to the ground, beat furiously, probably somewhere near her shoes. _"Hey babe, what's up guys?" _Edward greeted the table as he walked over and embraced Bella, who was now standing. He kissed her on the lips, long and hard. Rosalie felt something rush into her throat, and she swallowed it back down. _Do I hate this so much that it's actually going to make me throw up? Jesus…_

"_What are you doing here?" _Bella questioned, breathily but sounding happy, not annoyed (Rosalie thought she felt the whatever-it-was rising in her throat again…)

"_Surprising you, beautiful." _He sounded so cheesy. He _was_ so cheesy. His hair looked absolutely ridiculous. He was wearing the lamest, cheapest looking blue work shirt, ill-fitting black pants, and ugliest square-toed loafers Rosalie thought she had ever laid eyes on. Emmett and Jasper introduced him to Jacob and motioned for him to sit down after the standard hand-clasp, shoulder-bump dudegreetings were finished. Edward sat down next to Jasper, directly across from Bella. _His girlfriend. _His girlfriend who was currently acting like Rosalie was made of radioactive material that she was desperate to have as little contact with anywhere on her body so as not to get poisoned. If Rosalie had said she wasn't hurt by Bella's behavior, she would have been lying through her teeth. Because it hurt. It really fucking hurt. _This sucks._

"_Rosey, it's your turn; tell us about your sex sounds…" _Jacob teased her and rubbed her arm, flirting playfully. Rosalie noticed Bella slightly jerk as she heard Jacob call her by the nickname. The nickname that he'd never actually used before, and would have normally gotten chewed out for uttering. _Fuck her_, Rosalie thought - tonight, she wasn't going to bother to correct him. And she didn't shrug off the boy's hand as he rubbed her back affectionately. Jacob wasn't being overt – he was just being Jacob. But Bella didn't know that, and frankly, right now Rosalie didn't care.

"_Okay," _Rosalie began, voice as cool and composed as ever. _"I'm like a heavy breather type moaner. Like the moan itself is pretty quiet and small, it's more like the breath is 70% of it and the sound is…"_

"_And it's the fucking hottest thing I've ever heard in my entire life; I'm not fucking around, sorry Em…" _Jacob interrupted as he shared his opinion with the group and groaned dramatically, as if her noises were so sexy that it pained him.

"_Jacob!" _Rosalie smacked him in the stomach quite hard. She wasn't flirting; she was pissed. Mostly because Bella's head had whipped around so fast when she heard his words that Rosalie was afraid everyone would think she was crazy. Or jealous. Because Bella looked very jealous, and pretty obviously so.

"_Do you talk dirty?" _Leah took the focus off her sister's reaction, and for once Rosalie was grateful.

"_Yes." _Rosalie responded coolly.

"_Well, what do you say?" _Leah prodded.

"_With a guy, mostly just requests about you know, the usual – Emmett, earmuffs, okay buddy?" _She ordered her brother to cover his ears, and then continued. _"Like just 'harder' and maybe a few 'fuck's thrown in here and there."_

"_And with a girl?" _Leah was not going to let her off easily.

"_With a girl, it really depends on what she's comfortable with. Actually, that's a lie, unless I actually like her, which is extremely rare, I usually get pretty raunchy right away and don't really give a shit if she likes it or not. But they always like it; I've never had any complaints…" _Rosalie smirked at Leah as she finished.

"_Describe what you mean by 'raunchy,' please." _Leah sounded like a bossy high-school teacher.

"_JESUS CHRIST, LEAH, SHE DOESN'T WANT TO ANSWER, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" _Bella's angry voice jarred the entire group and cut through the growing tension between Leah and Rosalie as she yelled at her sister. _"Just let it go, Leah, God, what the fuck is wrong with you?"_

"_Aw," _Edward crooned, reaching across the table to pat Bella's hand. _"I love when my Bella gets all protective of her friends. I love you, babe."_

"_I love you too," _Bella responded quietly.

_Barf, _Rosalie groaned inwardly. _Barf, Barf, Barf, I actually think I'm going to barf…_

"_Hey Jake," _Rosalie turned in the handsome boy's direction. _"Let's go get a drink next door and catch up, okay? It's been too long."_

"_Hells yes!" _Jake jumped up. _"Later guys!" _He threw Rosalie over his shoulder as she giggled and marched her out of the yard. She wasn't going to sleep with him. She just needed to get the fuck out of there. She didn't even bother to look back at Bella; she'd seen enough.

###

Jacob and Rosalie grabbed the last two available seats at the bar, and Rosalie text messaged Emmett, requesting that he let her know as soon as the group in the backyard dispersed. She absentmindedly ordered a bourbon neat from the elderly bartender; she needed something strong. Emmett immediately responded:

EMMETT SMS: I WILL. BELLA SUCKS. WANT ME TO LIGHT HER HAIR ON FIRE?

_Of course he knows,_ Rosalie mused. Emmett consistently proved to be more astute and aware of his sister's feeling than she gave him credit for.

The handsome boy next to her smiled warmly as he handed Rosalie her (stiff) drink. _"So that hot brunette, the one with the sister that's build like a linebacker – she's totally in love with you."_

Rosalie tilted her head questioningly at Jacob but said nothing.

"_I mean, did you see the way she freaked out every time I touched you? And the way she REALLY freaked after that last question – she was about as subtle as a train wreck!" _Jacob rolled his dark eyes, looking totally goofy; goofy enough for even Rosalie to chuckle a little.

"_Seriously though, if I was her boyfriend I'd be PISSED. But that guy seems like such a douche – I don't think he even noticed. She REALLY likes you, Rosalie." _He looked at her pointedly. Rosalie couldn't stifle the frustrated sigh that escaped.

"_Uh oh, you like her too, don't you?" _There wasn't a hint of judgment in Jacob's tone. He actually seemed legitimately concerned, in a friendly (as opposed to a jealous) sort of way. Rosalie didn't know why she volunteered the next bit of information; she was so hurt and upset that she guessed that she just didn't care if he knew. She looked up at Jacob, her green eyes wide and sad, and nodded yes.

"_Shit Rosalie, I'm so sorry, that sucks. You can't hook up with her because the boyfriend gets in the way?" _He questioned her kindly, truly interested in helping.

"_I don't know, Jake, he doesn't really get in the way when I'm fucking her…" _Rosalie's voice was laced with sarcasm and pain. Jacob suddenly looked slightly pissed-off.

"_Rosalie, I get that she's special, because I know you never really care that much when it comes to this kind of thing, but she can't be THAT special. Yeah, she's hot, but do you know how many hot chicks-" _He then smiled warmly and pointed to himself "-_and dudes would give their right arm for a chance to be with you, and treat you like gold. She should have dumped her boyfriend the second you kissed her. You deserve a lot more than whatever she's giving you, and not just because you're blindingly hot. You're actually a really good, interesting person." _Jacob's words were sincere and sweet. He was a nice guy. Maybe she might be willing to call him a friend after all…

"_Thanks, Jake. But I don't think it's so easy – I mean, I'm pretty sure she's never even kissed another girl before me, much less slept with one. I know I should totally write her off, but why? Because I'm too proud? Because I can't handle feeling hurt? Believe me, plenty of the time I want to do exactly that, but she's different. I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm willing to give her time to get her shit together. She's worth it. But tonight – that sucked. And I'm SO going to stop being such a pussy around her and get back to running some game on the girl. Because Jake, I've been so whipped this past month, you would barely recognize me. I used to be like a predator with chicks, and all of a sudden a few giggles from this one and I'm like a wussy little puppy that just wants to follow her around and cuddle. God I've been SUCH a pussy. " _Rosalie rolled her eyes dramatically. Internally, she was shocked at her own admition, rarely having spoken to another person about herself so candidly, but Jake's re-assuring smile gave her comfort.

"_Fine, I'll give her a month. And you're right, stop being such a pussy. But not because its making her take you for granted, because trust me, its SO not – I saw all I needed to see tonight in order to say that with 100% confidence. Stop being such a pussy because then you'll feel a little more in control of the situation. I know how you are." _Rosalie was surprised by his perceptiveness.

"_But if she still hasn't come around by the end of November, I swear to God you better get rid of her. But not before I bust into that hen-fest of an apartment and tell her myself just how fucking crazy lucky she was to have Rosalie Hale actually care about her." _He looked determined as he finished, but also slightly sad.

"_I never didn't care about you, Jake, you should know that. You're kind of an amazing catch, you know – insanely hot, smart, honorable, fun, kind but in that way that doesn't make you a pussy yourself. I'm just a really fucked up person. I wish I wasn't. I honestly don't get why she makes me feel so different. I mean, I DO, but I don't at the same time." _She placed her delicate, soft hand in his massive, calloused one and rubbed it with her thumb.

"_But you should know that I really do care about you." _ He blushed and looked down, clearly somewhat surprised by Rosalie's compliments and candor. Because Rosalie knew she had never really been forthcoming with him about how she felt; forthcoming with anyone, for that matter.

"_Well you may think you're fucked up, but all I can think is how it's just fucked up that you're so completely gorgeous!" _He hugged her tightly and pressed goofy, silly kisses into her neck. _"Will you please let me be your friend and talk to me about it once in a while?"_

Rosalie giggled and pulled back. _"Sure, Jake. I can try." _She doubted she would do a very good job at trying, but Jacob always impressed her with his different layers. _He might be actually worth it._

_###_

Their conversation was cut rapidly short as Jacob was approached by three huge men who recognized him from the last Jets game. Rosalie wasn't surprised – they _were_ in an Irish sports bar, after all – and she enjoyed watching the charismatic boy charm his fans and bask in their attention. More and more people came up, and the two (new) friends soon found themselves surrounded by a sizable crowd eager for pictures. Rosalie learned that his game-winning drive in the fourth quarter had actually been quite a big deal. And she was happy for him.

They spent the next few hours laughing and chatting, easily taking over the pool table in the back. They teased and jabbed at each other as Rosalie got her ass handed to her by the handsome athlete, who it turned out was quite a hustler at the billiards table. Rosalie stayed long after Emmett's all-clear text message had come through. They continued to laugh as Rosalie tried to help Jacob pick up chicks. Jacob decided that Rosalie made a terrible wingman, either stealing his prospective girl's attention without trying, or intimidating her so much with her looks that the girl would shut down. They laughed some more as he tried to teach her how to wing him properly, and they made plans to continue her 'wing-man' lessons at some crazy bar he loved downtown the following Friday.

###

She returned to the apartment a little after midnight, $200 down from lost wagers on the pool table, but spirits significantly up. Assuming that everyone else was asleep, Rosalie grabbed a blanket and headed outside to think and take in some of the cool fall air.

She looked up at the sky, the nervousness from earlier quickly returning, and she twitched and fiddled as she contemplated how to fix things with Bella. And how to fix things with herself. She wouldn't acknowledge the boyfriend thing to Bella – she just couldn't_. _And she didn't want to fight. She didn't want Bella angry. She knew Bella's reasons for being mad were insanely unfounded and downright unfair, given that she was actually still telling another person, the _boyfriend_ she clearly still had, that she loved him. But Rosalie was going to force herself not to care. If after a month Bella still didn't think she was worth it enough to be with her and only her, Rosalie would end it.

But it wasn't yet time to judge. And if she did end up being not worth it enough to Bella, Rosalie would just have to deal. It would hurt; tonight alone had already really _fucking_ hurt. But even though she felt that she clearly wasn't worth it enough to Bella, Bella was already worth it enough to her.

She'd never thought this way a day in her life before Bella showed up.

_What is she doing to me?_

_###_

She was interrupted from her musings by a tell-tale chirp from her phone, indicating that she'd just received a text. She grabbed it out of her pocket and looked down at the iphone:

BELLA SMS: DID YOU FUCK HIM?

_Did YOU fuck HIM, Bella? _God knows that was what Rosalie wanted to respond with. Or maybe to tell her that she had no right to ask that as such a fucking hypocrite herself, or maybe something much nastier. But that wouldn't help; it wouldn't quell Bella's anger. Yes, she'd been unfairly jealous and cold to Rosalie, and she was (in Rosalie's mind) being a huge coward, sleeping with Rosalie and clearly falling for her, but still stringing Edward along.

But then Rosalie thought of her own many deceitful actions of her past before she knew Bella, and decided that she probably shouldn't throw stones from such a delicate glass house, even if Bella would never find out how delicate it actually was. So she wrote back:

ROSALIE SMS: WHO?

Bella responded instantly.

BELLA SMS: FUCK YOU ROSE

Okay, maybe Rosalie was being a bit too generous. Bella had no right to be _that _mad, not with the boyfriend that was no doubt sleeping in her bed at the current moment. That she'd said she loved right in front of the blonde. But she wasn't willing to let Bella know that it bothered her.

She was NOT going to be led into an argument.

ROSALIE SMS: THAT'S NICE

Rosalie's phone began to ring, and she was actually surprised to see Bella's name on the caller id. She picked up, answering quietly and gently:

"_Hey."_

"_Well did you?" _Bella's tone was nasty.

"_It's really not your business, but no, no I didn't."_

"_Did you kiss him?" _

Rosalie willed herself to stay calm. _Do NOT attack her, give her time, give her time, listen to Hatcher, listen to Jamie, don't be a bitch. _Rosalie could barely stand the idea that she was actually taking a therapist's advice, much less willing herself _not_ to be a bitch to such a venomous voice on the other end of the line. But since the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, she steeled herself to listen and stay calm. She needed to be brave. To try something new.

"_No Bella, we just hung out and played pool."_

"_He was all over you."_

"_That's just Jake, he's always like that. Nothing happened." _Rosalie spoke every response calmly.

"_But clearly you've fucked him before." _Bella spat every response with disgust.

"_Bella, nothing happened. Listen, I don't want to fight with you, okay? Tonight wasn't a big deal. Don't make something out of nothing."_

"_THAT was nothing?" _Bella was still angry. And apparently not nearly as good at moderating her emotions or responses as Rosalie had become.

"_Yes Bella," _Rosalie said firmly, changing her tone from gentle to authoritative. _"It was nothing, so knock it off. I'm not seeing anyone else. And not planning to. Just let this go. Forget about tonight. I just want to be with you and not make a big deal out of things, okay? That's all I want."_

"_Okay." _Rosalie could hear that Bella had suddenly started to cry. Despite the fact that she did this easily, it always hit Rosalie right in the heart, no matter how trivial the reason.

"_Come outside." _Rosalie told her plainly.

"_I can't" _was her tearful reply.

_Of course you can't, you're with your boyfriend. Let it go, Rosalie, let it go. _Rosalie took a deep, calming breath.

"_Okay Bella, then I'll just see you tomorrow, okay, and everything will be fine. Nothing has changed – I'm still here, okay? Everything is the same, its okay."_

Rosalie was surprised by the click she heard through the receiver. She thought she'd been exceptionally nice and kind, especially considering how unnatural that just was for her. Rosalie was defensive and cold, not warm and forgiving. She slumped back into the chair, not sure how to feel about the fact that the brunette had just hung up on her, despite her very best efforts. Rosalie was failing. She wasn't used to failing.

She buried her head in her hands, completely exasperated.

"_Hey." _Rosalie shot up, completely startled by the voice.

The beautiful brunette stood before her, clad only in an oversize t-shirt and boxers. It was 45 degrees outside, but her feet were bare. And her cheeks were streaked with tears.

Rosalie said nothing; she simply stood up and gathered the girl into her arms. She inhaled Bella's fresh, citrus scent, burying her patrician nose in the girl's soft hair as she held her tightly. And as Bella held her back just as tightly, clinging to the taller girl. Rosalie rubbed her back and kissed the back of her neck, and Bella began to sob, her whole body shaking.

"_Rose, I'm so, so sorry about tonight, I just-"_

"_Bella stop. Don't be sorry." _Rosalie stroked her back soothingly as she held her close, and pressed another kiss to her neck. _"Don't say anything else, okay? Everything is okay."_

Bella just cried harder, and Rosalie pulled back to look in her eyes. The brunette looked so small and fragile. Rosalie pressed gentle lips to Bella's, and murmured _"Its okay, I promise." _

After a few minutes of just holding the weary girl, soothing her and re-assuring her and calming her, Bella suddenly pulled back.

"_I have to go, Rose. Will I see you tomorrow?" _She looked defeated. Rosalie smiled kindly.

"_Of course you will. Sleep well, okay." _Rosalie turned and walked back to her house, praying that her own sleep would come well and knowing that it wouldn't.

###

An hour later – almost 1:30am at this point – Rosalie finally turned off the lamp by her bed. She tried to focus on the feeling of the smooth cotton sheets that enveloped her slender body. It was one of the reasons that she always preferred to sleep in as little as possible; she liked the sensation of crisp, cool cotton to completely envelope her, drawing comfort from the luxury of her expensive linens. Tonight, she sighed as she curled into feather pillows and soft sheets, clad only in the skimpy black lace shorts some suitor from the past had gifted her.

She was only a few seconds away from finally drifting off when she heard light tapping on her window. She immediately reached for the knife she kept under her pillow – the apartment was on the ground floor, and her windows looked right out onto the yard. Someone clever enough to break into any of the four dwellings that opened on to the back could have easily jumped a trellis or too and pried her window open from the outside. She turned her head as she griped the knife, still hidden under the pillow, and then released it when she realized that the weary, delicate brunette tapping on the glass was more than a friend, but certainly not a foe.

Rosalie hoped out of bed, ignoring her barely clothed state, and opened the window. No words were exchanged; she simply reached a graceful hand out to the shivering girl and helped her in. She silently directed Bella to the bed and crawled in. Bella stood, looking at her with an unreadable expression, but Rosalie could see that fresh tears continued to fall from her beautiful, dark eyes.

Rosalie lay back into the pillows and opened her arms, and Bella crawled into the bed and nestled into her. She buried her face in Rosalie's shoulder and covered the blonde's body with her own. Ignoring the soft hand that now rested on her breast, Rosalie drew comforting arms around her, holding the crying girl closely. She didn't ask Bella how or why she was there; she didn't care. She just stroked her back tenderly; gently, and let the girl snuggle in as close as was humanly possible.

Her quiet sobs soon turned into soft, even breaths, and Rosalie sighed, too weary herself to question anything, and just relieved that her girl, _her_ Bella, was able to sleep. 

_###_

Rosalie herself could not sleep, and as the minutes, then hours passed, she finally succumbed to the intrinsic fears that she'd fought off so well the entire night up to the point.

Despite the relief that came naturally from feeling Bella's body against her own, in the quiet dark of the room, Rosalie was no longer able to deny how truly greatly the night's events and Bella's actions had actually affected her. After all the things they'd done; all the times they'd touched; all the intense emotions that Rosalie had thought they were both experiencing; all the feelings that Rosalie had thought they were developing; all that Rosalie had compromised; all the feelings she'd worked so hard to overcome because and _only_ because of the girl that currently clung to her – after all of that, no, _despite_ all of that, _that girl still had a boyfriend. _Rosalie had let herself forget all about him, just assuming he was gone, and she'd let herself fall for Bella. But no longer.

Bella was a habit she knew she couldn't break; an addiction she'd never kick. She _couldn't_ stop seeing her; being with her. But giving so much of herself to the girl that clearly didn't think she was worth breaking off a relationship for; the girl with the boyfriend that she could still say '_I love you' _to after all she'd done with Rosalie? Rosalie would never let herself be so vulnerable again.

With everyone but Bella, Rosalie had always been the controlled, calculating predator; the one that didn't care; that didn't _need. _The predator that just _wanted_; pure and simple. And from now on, she would be that predator with Bella. Now she would fight the part of her that was falling in love with Bella and embrace the part of her that was too careful to care, instead of the other way around as she'd been doing so diligently for the past few months.

Because she'd been hurt; she was hurt. Bella HURT her. And it wouldn't happen again. She had tried to love, as a novice, and failed; but she would barely even need to try to seduce, as an expert, and succeed.

She swallowed the pain that Bella had caused and, as she lay in the dark holding the smaller girl, and willed herself to re-embrace the predator that she'd always been…

###

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Ownership: Just the story.

A/N: This story still has a long way to go. Hang in there for the next few chapters. I don't do unhappy endings.

**Bella's perspective:**

She locked the bathroom door and collapsed onto the floor, tears once again streaming down her cheeks as she began to weep.

She cursed her stupid apartment for being so small that she had to shut herself in a bathroom to cry.

She cursed the boy who was in her room, who decided to surprise her that night; the only thing she liked about him anymore was the insomnia that forced him to take such strong sleeping pills before bed, because at least she didn't have to worry about him hearing her cry.

She cursed the gorgeous blonde who, despite Bella's horrible behavior that evening, didn't even need to hear an apology before gathering her up in slender, strong arms and comforting her outside just moments ago.

She cursed herself for having such a visceral, obvious reaction to seeing someone else simply simply flirt with Rosalie.

She cursed her own jealousy, and emotion she'd hadn't really ever felt before. She'd never been the jealous type, but with Rosalie she'd suddenly become irrationally possessive.

She cursed Rosalie for being the exact opposite; for being so forgiving and so _not_ jealous of Edward, when all she wanted was for the blonde to scream at her for still being with him and beg her to break it off.

She cursed the girl for being so insanely perfect; for suddenly turning her life upside down just when Bella thought she had everything figured out. She'd thought she loved Edward, thought she'd found the perfect man, a man who would marry her and take care of her and provide her with the idyllic life she always thought she was supposed to have.

She cursed Rosalie for showing her that feelings as strong as the ones she had for the beautiful girl could even exist.

She cursed her for making Bella fall in love with her.

Now she knew she would never be the same – she cursed the fact that she could never be happy with anyone else after knowing how happy Rosalie could make her. People like Rosalie didn't exist; not for people like Bella. Rosalie was beautiful beyond reason, smart beyond logic; she was captivating and kind and funny and mysterious and sexy and accomplished and envied, even worshipped, by a slew of people that all had so much more to offer her than Bella ever could.

And she cursed the girl for actually thinking that Bella was all of those same things herself.

She cursed Rosalie for making the past two months, no more like the past 5 months, the most amazing months she'd ever had. She cursed Rosalie for making her feel things in bed that she'd thought only existed in the imaginations of novelists and screenwriters and contributors to Penthouse letters.

And most of all, Bella cursed Rosalie for being a girl. Because she'd been fine about it when she thought Rosalie would only be a temporary phase. And now she knew Rosalie could never be a temporary _anything_ to her, while she herself was still too insecure and afraid to ever believe that she would be anything more than a temporary phase for Rosalie. She couldn't fathom why Rosalie would want to be with her for a minute, much less for forever.

And she cursed the fact that now forever was the only thing Bella wanted with Rosalie.

Rosalie Hale. A girl. An incredible, powerful, brilliant, capable, gorgeous, socially prominent, clearly wealthy, and awe-inspiring girl, but a girl none-the-less. Bella's mother _hated_ homosexuals; the devout Catholic Floridian believed that they were all destined for hell, and she was actually afraid to even be in the same room as one of them. And now Bella knew that she was one of those people her mother so despised. Her reaction to Jacob tonight had proved that to her beyond a shadow of a doubt. She would never love a man the way she loved Rosalie. Although she was pretty sure that she would never love _anyone, _man or woman, as much as she loved Rosalie.

Her mother would never speak to her again.

Not that Rosalie would ever want to be with her 'like that' – why would she?

And why did she make Bella feel like the opposite was true – that she actually wanted to be with Bella _exactly _"like that."

She cursed Rosalie for being so mysterious and withholding.

She cursed Rosalie for not being the kind of person that could just tell Bella that she wanted to be with her forever, to marry her and never leave her and love her more than anything else in the world.

And she cursed herself for actually needing to hear that from another person after being with them for only two months. That was a crazy thing to want and she knew it.

She cursed herself for being crazy.

And for not being able to stop crying. She hated how easily she always cried.

And an hour and a half later, as she ran out of the bathroom and out the backyard door, Bella also cursed Rosalie and the feel of lying in her arms for being the only things that could give her any solace right now…

###

Bella felt gentle hands rubbing her back, and opened her eyes to find that she hadn't moved a single inch during her sleep. Soft blonde tendrils caressed her face as she lay nuzzled into the gorgeous girl's neck, body draped almost entirely over Rosalie's perfect one, one arm under the taller girl's back and the other tucked into her side, hand cupping a full, entirely mouth-watering, beautiful breast.

She inhaled Rosalie's intoxicating, fresh floral scent as it lingered delicately on the smooth pale locks that surrounded her. Rosalie's smell was amazing; Bella had even convinced Rosalie to give her a small bottle of her perfume, and Bella would sometimes mist the heavenly scent (from a pretty pink bottle with the words "Creed" and 'Spring Flower" etched in gold lettering) onto her pillow in the early morning when she returned from Rosalie's bedroom, or when she woke up and Rosalie was gone from her own, so that she wouldn't miss her as much. It was comforting, but it never worked: Bella still missed her. She _always_ missed her.

"_Hey," _Rosalie whispered as she turned her head and pressed a kiss in the beautiful brunette's hair. _"It's almost 6, you should go." _Bella groaned but sat up, breathless as usual when she took in the vision of the half-naked, incredible blonde laying on her back.

"_I don't want to go," _Bella said quietly.

"_Me neither." _Rosalie whispered back. Bella could hear sadness in her voice. And she could see it in her eyes. _"Can you come back in a few hours? We can just watch cartoons or your crime shows or something. I don't have to be anywhere until 2, so…"_

"_Yes." _Bella smiled, thrilled that Rosalie wanted her back; that she didn't want her to go. _"How soon can I come back?"_

"_As soon as you want," Rosalie_ replied as she herself stirred, all the delicate muscles on her willowy, perfectly sculpted body engaging as she sat up and then padded over to the window, opening it for Bella.

_Perfect. She's perfect. _In Bella's mind, that's what she was. _Perfect. Why does she have to be so fucking perfect?_

Bella got up reluctantly, although she knew she had to leave, and stood on her tip toes to kiss Rosalie gently before she crawled out the window and into the nippy morning air.

###

Bella sat on the couch, immediately setting the alarm on her phone for 8am before she let herself doze lightly. She wanted to get Edward out and to get back to Rosalie as soon as possible, and she hoped that Rosalie perhaps wouldn't think she was too desperate if she waited at least a few hours before returning.

As soon as the eagerly anticipated chimes went off, she flew off the couch and into her bedroom.

"_Hey," _she said, not loudly but far less gentle and quiet than a voice should be when waking someone up. She watched, feeling annoyed as the boy stirred sluggishly.

"_Hey Edward, get up, I'm really not feeling good and I don't want you to catch whatever I have, so you have to go home."_

"_No," _he groaned. _"I don't care if I get sick."_

"_Edward, I'm serious, I'm going to puke." _The annoyance in Bella's voice was unmistakable. He groaned again and muttered something under his breath, but Bella didn't care what it was. She flopped on her bed and clutched her stomach dramatically.

"_Sorry but I think I'm going to stay in instead of going to the party next door tonight." _The party in question was a massive one that Emmett and Jasper had been planning for weeks, and it had been Leah (despite the fact that she herself wasn't able to go), not the two boys, who had invited Edward to go, insisting in front of everyone but Rosalie last night that _"you and Bella don't spend enough time together." _

Edward had been thrilled. Bella had been pissed. She immediately crafted a plan to keep him from coming. She wanted to be with Rosalie, not Edward. But since Rosalie had entered the picture, she _never_ wanted to be with anyone but her, and _never_ wanted to be with Edward.

The only reason she hadn't dumped him yet was that he was travelling so much with work that he was never home anyways, so she hardly ever had to see him anymore as it stood. Okay, that wasn't the only reason. Bella couldn't silence the nagging voice in her head that told her that Rosalie would never want to actually _be_ with her, and that doubtful, insipid voice told her to keep Edward around so that her life would at least _appear _not to be ruined when Rosalie finally woke up and got rid of her. And she hated that Rosalie didn't even seem to care that Bella had a boyfriend. Rosalie didn't even acknowledge it.

So Bella figured that Rosalie must not want anything permanent with her, since she didn't seem to have a problem with her still dating him. Although she also knew that she was probably partially to blame for Rosalie's silence, since Bella never spoke about Edward either. And Rosalie's sudden departure from the table last night immediately after he arrived hadn't gone unnoticed by the smaller girl.

But the intense anger and jealousy she felt from watching that boy, Jacob; that insanely hot _professional football player _with an Ivy-League education like Rosalie's and clearly a sexual history with the gorgeous blonde; the jealousy she felt when she watched her let him put his arm around her, and let him carry her over his shoulder, _giggling_ as they left for the bar and not even bothering to look back at her; that jealousy clouded her mind to the degree that she was rendered completely unable to believe that Rosalie might actually be upset by Edward's presence. Bella knew she'd been really cold and rude to her, and she knew that Rosalie didn't like him as a person.

But then last night she'd been so forgiving. Bella knew Rosalie was anything but a doormat, so clearly she just wanted to be with her _right now_ as opposed to _always. _

Bella, on the other-hand, felt that she actually _was_ acting like a doormat by allowing Rosalie to still be with her, knowing that the girl would eventually get rid of her. But she really didn't care.

Temporary Rosalie was better than no Rosalie at all.

###

So as she flew right out of bed when she heard Edward slam the front door and darted into the bathroom, brushing her teeth for the second time and rinsing her body off quickly (and thanking God that Alice kept a neon green polka dot shower cap on a hook in the bathroom) as she frantically readied herself to go to Rosalie's; as she did this, Bella was feeling nothing but excitement and elation. Because soon she would be curled up on Rosalie's comfortable cream sofa, in the arms of the girl she couldn't help but love no matter what.

###

She tapped gently on the glass and waited. Both girls frequently used Rosalie's bedroom window to get in and out of her apartment, because one could not get to Rosalie's backyard without going through Emmett's room, and Rosalie didn't like to disturb him, especially in the morning, when the handsome boy slept much lighter and had a difficult time falling back to sleep if disturbed. Rosalie had lovingly explained this to Bella; sometimes Bella found herself even feeling slightly jealous of Emmett, simply because he got to be loved by the gorgeous blonde, something Bella wanted for herself with increasing desperation.

Rosalie smiled warmly at Bella as she drew back the curtains and opened the window. She wore tiny grey shorts that looked like they were made from the same material as the cashmere hoodie Rosalie had loaned her and a tight white wife beater (Bella figured that Rosalie wore them so often in casual situations because they looked so fucking hot on her – Bella _loved_ her blonde in those tight tanks; they made her breasts looked incredible and since she rarely wore a bra underneath, Bella usually had to fight to pry her eyes away from the perfect, always hard nipples that were outlined by the ribbed cotton fabric.) She also wore a short, finely striped blue and white robe (Bella thought the fabric looked like a men's dress shirt, one of the expensive, perfectly-tailored shirts that Rosalie's brother was always wearing.) All in all, Rosalie looked impeccable, as usual.

Bella, in her worn jeans and the black fleece jacket Rosalie let her take home from the Hamptons (Bella wore Rosalie's clothes all the time; she couldn't help herself), well Bella thought she looked the exact opposite of impeccable.

"_Get in here!" _Rosalie teased, winking at her as she pulled her through the window. _"Where are your pajamas?"_

"_You never said to wear them," _Bella began, feeling insecure.

"_It's Saturday morning TV, of course you wear pajamas, duh." _Rosalie smirked as she reached out and tucked a piece of chestnut hair behind Bella's ear. _'I'm only teasing, silly girl." _She grabbed Bella's hands, her green eyes, in this bright morning light, looking almost like the neon green in Alice's shower cap. She kept those eyes trained on Bella's (what Bella considered to be) dull brown ones as she brought the smaller girl's hands to her lips and kissed them.

"_Bella," _she purred seductively and Bella felt her stomach drop to the floor. _"You have the most beautiful brown eyes I've ever seen." _Bella snorted but didn't break their gaze. _'Don't snort, I'm serious. They're like this rich, almost liquid chocolate color, but with all these different rings and flecks in various shades of that chocolate brown. They're incredible."_

Before Bella could respond, Rosalie had dropped her hands and Bella wondered if she'd actually teleported over to her dresser; Bella couldn't recall seeing her even move; but all of a sudden she was over by it, rooting through a drawer and finally exclaiming _"a-ha" _victoriously as she held up her find.

"_You have pajamas with elephants on them?" _ Bella was aghast – sleek, chic Rosalie Hale had just pulled a full pajama set from her drawer - white cotton pajamas with pink piping and tiny pink elephants printed all over them. Bella couldn't help but smirk herself, and she raised an eyebrow questioningly. _"Seriously?" _She teased the blonde and then burst into a fit of giggles.

"_Oh shut up," _Rosalie huffed as she marched over to her. _"They're Roberta Freyman, for god's sake, and the pants are too short for me." _Bella's giggles ceased as Rosalie reached out and unzipped Bella's jacket and took it off of her.

Heat flooded her core as she realized that Rosalie was beginning to undress her. She gulped and bit her lip, her eyes again searching those electric green ones. She motioned to un-do her jeans, but Rosalie caught her hands and stilled her movements. _"Let me." _

_Again with the seductive purring,_ Bella thought. _Please tell me she has plans for me in that bed before we watch TV, please, please…_

Although they'd had sex just two days ago (Rosalie had taken her to a movie on Thursday night that had made Bella cry, and afterwards she'd made love to her in her room for three hours, touching and kissing her so tenderly that Bella thought she just might cry all over again. If she hadn't been so consumed by her own insecurities, Bella would have recognized that that night was one of so many examples of proof of Rosalie's feelings for her. How Bella had missed that and stayed so sure that Rosalie didn't want to be anything more with her was something that the brunette, looking back on months later, couldn't believe she'd been so blind to…); although Rosalie had made love to her less than 48 hours ago, Bella was already desperate to be with her again.

It was another thing that scared her; that kept her so afraid of Rosalie hurting her that she couldn't see the reality of their situation; she wanted Rosalie more and more often than she ever thought anyone could want another person.

And she cursed herself for it.

She wanted to have sex with her constantly, and could barely go a full day anymore without some level of contact with her captivating blonde. She cursed Rosalie for being so amazing in bed – she blamed her feelings on Rosalie's skills. She had no idea, and despite being told by Rosalie herself, it would take months for Bella to actually believe her, but Rosalie actually felt exactly the same way about her, in terms of both the magnitude of her desire for Bella, and the degree to which she too desperately needed to have some kind of contact with the girl at least once a day.

Rosalie made Bella crazy, but Bella refused to believe her when Rosalie told her how crazy Bella made her.

###

Her breath hitched and she wet her lips in anticipation of what was to come as Rosalie slowly lifted Bella's shirt up over her head, quickly snapped her bra off, and began to kiss her way down Bella's body, letting her soft, full lips linger at every stop as she kissed from her neck, to her collarbones, to her chest, then to the tops of her breasts, finally pausing to bring first her left, then her right nipple into her mouth. Bella moaned and snaked her fingers into the blonde's long, silky hair as Rosalie sucked on her sensitive buds and teased each point with a wet tongue that felt almost electrically charged.

She huffed when Rosalie's expert mouth left and wandered down her stomach to the hem of her jeans, leaving a trail of tingling, sensually kissed skin in her wake. Rosalie continued her path of torturous, insanely arousing kisses down Bella's legs as she pulled her jeans down, and kissed and now also licked her way slowly back up them after helping Bella step out of the worn denim. She reached around and cupped Bella's ass, and began squeezing and kneading the flesh as she nipped at and caressed almost every inch of the delicate skin of Bella's inner thighs with a wet mouth and hot, eager lips.

Bella was, at this point, already breathing heavily, and a whispered _"fuck" _escaped her lips as Rosalie snuck her hands under the fabric of her panties from behind and tugged at the elastic in front of her with perfect, pearly white teeth. She ran her tongue under the skin along the line of elastic, and Bella groaned, eagerly awaiting that skilled tongue and the deft, long fingers that she knew would soon be inside and all over her already soaked center. She was absolutely aching with desire for the incredibly hot blonde, and felt like if she didn't feel Rosalie's fingers in her pussy and her tongue in her mouth soon, she was going to literally explode.

And then all of a sudden Rosalie had again practically teleported away again, and Bella heard her cheery voice from all the way over by the kitchen before she'd even registered that the girl's mouth was no longer on her. _"Put your jammies on, baby bunny, I'm going to make coffee" _rang out from somewhere inside the kitchen.Bella was immediately confused, and as she caught a glimpse of herself in Rosalie's long, gilded silver mirror, she realized she was also _extremely_ flushed.

"_Um, Rose," she_ questioned, totally perplexed. _"Are you coming back in here?"_

"_No silly, we're watching TV, remember?" _Rosalie yelled. _"I didn't sleep for even a second last night, and I'm so exhausted I can barely stand." _

_She didn't look exhausted,_ Bella mused.

"_But you don't even seem tired!" _She whined, still standing in Rosalie's room clad only in her panties.

"_I'll take that as a compliment!" _Rosalie yelled back, her voice melodic and still frustratingly cheerful. _"Now hurry up and get out here!"_

Bella sat on the bed and literally scratched her head. After a few minutes, she begrudgingly put on the silly cotton pajamas. She was surprised when she looked back in the mirror and saw how cute they looked on her. And for cotton pajamas, they were actually somewhat fitted. _"Leave it to Rose to even have pink elephant pajamas that are sexy…" _She grumbled as she buttoned the last button on the top and walked into the living room.

###

Rosalie already had fresh-squeezed orange juice and a bowl of Lucky Charms waiting for Bella on the coffee table in front of the sofa. When Bella saw the cereal, she couldn't help but smile. _"I thought you said you hated Lucky Charms," _she yelled in the direction of the kitchen as she plopped down and lay back into the fluffy couch cushions.

"_I do," _Rosalie emerged from the kitchen, smirking _again _as she gracefully sat down next to her. She winked and poked a slender finger into her chest as she replied _"I got them for you" _in a flirtatious tone. Bella immediately tried to climb on top of her and resume what Rosalie had started in the bedroom, but Rosalie gently wrestled her off as she laughed. _"Down boy. Eat your special cereal."_

Bella huffed but reluctantly did what she was told. She realized she was actually pretty hungry. _"Thanks for getting my favorite cereal, Rose" _she said between mouthfuls.

"_You're welcome," _Rosalie replied cheerfully, and smiled at her as she sipped her own orange juice and finished a hand-boiled egg white. After much prodding, Rosalie had finally explained to her how she stayed in such amazing shape, and Bella had learned that, along with lots of vaguely described exercise, Rosalie stayed on a pretty rigid diet during the day, and allowed herself to only splurge and eat whatever she wanted when she went out to dinner. Bella had teased her about being so ridiculous, but Rosalie told her honestly that it was more important for her to look good than enjoy every meal, even though she knew it was very shallow of her to feel that way.

Bella loved how straight forward Rosalie was about the way she looked. She never pretended like it wasn't hard work, and also never denied that she was beautiful, but in a way that never made her sound cocky. She could admit to being shallow, and what honest about her vanity. She knew it was a fault. She was actually honest about herself.

She was the only girl Bella knew that spoke that way.

###

"_How's your egg white?" _Bella teased playfully as she devoured her sugary cereal with glee.

"_Mmmmmm delicious," _Rosalie joked as she popped the last piece into her mouth and smacked her lips, earning a giggle from the beautiful brunette. Bella tried not to leer as she watched Rosalie shed her robe and lean back into the soft cushions, only a thin tank top and tiny little shorts protecting her from the hands Bella planned to start wandering all over the gorgeous girl as soon as she finished her second bowl of Lucky Charms. Rosalie stretched her arms out and grabbed the remote, switching the massive plasma on and pulling up her DVR list. Bella read the list with interest; she actually had no idea what Rosalie liked to watch. The blonde had always let her hold the remote and choose the shows she wanted. Bella felt slightly guilty as she realized that she'd never even asked Rosalie what she'd wanted to watch.

She observed the list on the screen – Saturday Night Live, Dexter, True Blood, 30 Rock, Chelsea Lately – okay, those were pretty standard choices. And then she read the rest – not so standard. _"Rosalie, what the hell is 'Nova'?"_

"_It's a show about science," _Rosalie responded simply. Bella looked at her questioningly.

"_Never heard of it," _she responded.

"_Um, it's on PBS, it's been around for like a hundred years." _Rosalie smiled at her.

"_And what's up with all these nature programs? And Masterpiece Theater? Meet the Press? Jeopardy? And all these science-y sounding ones I've never heard of? And Jesus…" _ Bella exclaimed as she grabbed a stack of magazines off the table_. "…Psychology Today? Discovery? National Geographic? The Economist? The Week? What are you, like an 80-year old nerd? Who reads these?"_

"_Are you kidding? Lots of people. Like, LOTS of people." _Bella arched her eyebrow questioningly. Something about her tone must have made Rosalie defensive, because the blonde continued:_ "Sorry but those magazines are actually popular and not really even geared for 'nerds' – they're pretty mainstream. And the same goes for the shows I watch. I mean seriously, I hardly think there's anything wrong with having interests slightly more diverse than the Bravo channel and Cosmopolitan magazine. I'll at least give you some credit for liking those crime documentaries so much, but honestly, whenever I'm in your apartment, you girls are all like glued to the TV watching shows about fucking cake-baking or those real housewives who pretend to be socialites or that fucking show with the 8 kids and those asshole parents. There's nothing wrong with having interests that extend beyond Crime TV and dysfunctional reality stars, Bella. But I'm sure you three must have the most scintillating conversations..." _Rosalie's tone was condescending. Bella had never heard her talk like this.

"_I have more diverse interests than that." _Bella said quietly.

"_I know, I know, that was mean. I'm sorry," _Rosalie reached out and rubbed her back. _"Just don't make fun of me for stuff like that, okay? You make me feel like there's something wrong with me, and believe me, I already feel that way on my own without you pointing it out…" _Rosalie's voice trailed off, and Bella again thought she saw sadness in those hypnotic green eyes.

Bella put her spoon down and leaned back into the couch. She brought Rosalie's hand to her lips and kissed each knuckle tenderly. _"No, no, I'm sorry, I never want to make you feel that way. There's nothing wrong with you, Rose." _She continued to hold her hand as she met her eyes, and suddenly broke out into a grin. _"Except when it comes to your taste in women – no offense, but it's terrible."_

Rosalie smiled back seductively. _"Oh no, when it comes to women AND men, I have EXCEPTIONAL taste." _She lowered her head slightly and smoldered at Bella, licking her lips. Bella didn't know why, but whenever Rosalie lowered her head and looked at her like that, it made her absolutely wild with desire. _"I only sleep with the very, very best…"_

"_Oh I know, don't remind me, I've seen enough evidence of how hot they all are, and believe me, meeting all the fucking supermodels you've fucked gives me just the BEST feeling…" _Bella groaned her response as she rolled her eyes. She hated being reminded of just how much better and more attractive all of Rosalie's former lovers were.

"_Awwww," _Rosalie purred as she rolled over onto Bella, straddling her as she leaned in and licked a clean line up the shell of Bella's ear. Once again, Bella felt heat pooling lower down. _"Bella," _Rosalie continued to purr, puffing hot breaths into her ear. _"Don't be jealous. It's all for you, you know that; you and only you…"_

With that, Rosalie leaned in and kissed her passionately as she rolled her body into the smaller girl's. Bella groaned and grabbed her ass, pulling her tightly as she thrust her tongue desperately into the blonde's mouth. Rosalie kissed her back, but forced her to relax her pace and kiss more slowly. More sensually. Bella groaned and began to pull up Rosalie's tank.

"_Nope." _Rosalie popped her "p" as she broke the kiss, but her eyes still smoldered as she smirked at Bella. _"Emmett. Jacob. In their rooms, remember?"_

"_Well can't we just fucking go into your room?" _Bella was exasperated. Rosalie just shook her head, still smirking seductively, and crawled off Bella slowly, resuming her spot next to her on the couch.

"_Jesus Rose, why not? You're killing me here..."_

Rosalie reached out to Bella and pulled her in close as she purred _"let's just watch TV." _Bella cuddled into her, but just about hit the ceiling when she felt Rosalie's fingers begin to lightly trace patterns on her arm. The sensation was practically burning her. She was getting _really_ frustrated.

"_Rose, what the hell are you doing?" _She breathed.

"_Watching TV, you?"_

"_Stop touching me like that, with your fingers on my arm."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because you're giving me fucking blueballs, that's why!"_

Rosalie immediately stopped her ministrations. Bella was annoyed; she didn't want her to stop. She just wanted more than circles traced on her arm. _"Okay Bella, I'll stop. Let's just watch, I'm so tired." _Bella felt like her head was spinning. This push and pull that Rosalie had been doing to her all morning; it had worked her into a frenzy. She was so utterly confused, and turned on, and frustrated.

The sound of Emmett opening his bedroom door startled her, but as she tried to break Rosalie's embrace and escape her arms, Rosalie wouldn't let her. _"It's okay," _she crooned, pressing a kiss to Bella's hair and pulling her in even closer. _"He knows, but he would never give up your precious little secret." _

Those words stung Bella, yet they were delivered by such a beautiful, soothing voice. Before she could properly react, Rosalie shifted so that she could nuzzle into Bella's neck, and she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl tightly and sighed. She pressed a gentle kiss to her neck, and muttered _"I'm just going to try to close my eyes for a little bit, okay?" _

The tenderness Bella felt as Rosalie, for the first time ever, actually snuggled in and let Bella hold her, not the other way around, balanced out the strange, painful feeling the comment had given her. And as she felt Rosalie's breaths even out after a few minutes, and realized that the beautiful blonde was actually asleep in _her_ arms, her heart completely melted. 

###

Rosalie slept in her arms for the next four hours. Bella was content to just watch her. She'd never actually seen her sleeping; she'd always been the first one to fall asleep, and Rosalie was always either gone by the time she woke up, or the one waking her up so that Bella could leave for her own apartment. She'd never before seen Rosalie's delicate body shift and stretch in tiny graceful movements as her chest rose and fell, evenly and peacefully. And she'd never before felt the blonde's gentle breath on her neck, or heard her quiet, subtle whimpers as she dreamt.

Bella barely paid the television any attention, and only spoke in brief whispers with Emmett as he padded around the apartment. She was too focused on the beautiful girl she held to register that her brother wasn't acting as friendly to her as he normally would.

At around one o'clock, Rosalie began to stir.

"_Hey," _she whispered. _"How long was I out for?"_

"_Hey," _Bella whispered in reply as she gently traced circles on her back. _"Four hours or so."_

"_Ugh, okay, I have to get up." _Rosalie sat up, and Bella tried not to stare as she stretched languidly, the swell of her breasts rising temptingly as she arched and cracked her back.

"_Training with the Jets, right?" _Bella tried to mask the jealousy in her tone. She knew where Rosalie was going; she'd heard her make plans with the handsome athlete the night before.

"_Yes, because you know how I love football..." _Rosalie took in her expression and smiled softly. _"He's just a friend, Bella."_

"_Oh I know, I just wish you didn't have to leave." _Bella tried to sound sincere.

"_Come on," Rosalie_ spoke gently as she stood up and offered Bella a hand. _"I'll be back in time for the party; I'll probably just grab a quick bite to eat before hand, okay?"_

_With him? _Bella mused bitterly to herself. But she forced a smile, and Rosalie leaned in and kissed her tenderly, letting her soft lips, pinker now than they were during the summer, linger on Bella's deliciously. Rosalie's golden tan had faded into a soft, not quite pale hue that Bella thought looked even better on her than her summer bronze. Her skin was creamy, with only the slightest hint of light tan remaining, and with her pale blonde hair and liquid green eyes, Bella thought she looked almost ethereal.

"_So you'll be home at like what, seven or something?" _Bella looked up at her hopefully.

"_I have to shower and get ready, so plan on meeting me outside at around eight, okay?" _Rosalie gazed at her adoringly, looking far less seductive than she had all morning, but Bella welcomed her tender, much more genuine expression.

Rosalie seemed more like her old self. It was only in that moment that Bella realized she had been acting differently. Although she'd loved it at the time, the push and pull behavior Rosalie had engaged in all morning didn't sit as well with her after the fact.

So she was just happy, in that moment, to have Rosalie's tender, kind eyes back on her. Seductive, predatory Rose was irresistible, but made her feel quite insecure. This Rosalie felt better, more real.

"_Miss you," Bella_ whispered. Rosalie cupped her cheek and kissed her one more time.

"_Miss you too," _she breathed, and Bella noticed that again, her eyes looked suddenly sad. And as she walked back to her own apartment, Bella couldn't shake the feeling that Rosalie wasn't just talking about that afternoon.

###

TBC

A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, it means a tremendous amount to me…


	19. Chapter 19

Ownership: Nothing but the story…

A/N: Sorry, I had to take the initial posting of this chapter down and fix some big mistakes. Very sorry to anyone that read it. Halloween weekend was a little rough, and I really shouldn't have posted at four in the morning. I've known exactly what I wanted to do for this chapter for a very long time, but let's just say I got a little too "method" when I wrote it this weekend, especially during the dirty parts. So I forgot some pretty important stuff, made a ridiculous number of errors, and all and all just should have waiting to post in until I had a clearer head. It's still probably flows terribly (I wrote it in bits and pieces and totally out of order) and I'm sure is still has tons of grammatical mistakes I still haven't caught. So again, sorry if you're getting this chapter sent to you a second time – I know it's long, so only re-read it if you want to, I don't want to torture anybody. But there are some differences now.

Thank you so so very much for the reviews. Also, I am so sorry for all of the mistakes in each one of the chapters of this entire story. I try my best to proof them, but basically I just write so fast and am kind of spent by the time I finish a chapter, so when I review it myself, I miss A LOT. I really will go back and fix things soon, with all of the chapters...

I've gotten a lot of personal messages asking if this story really happened. I will neither confirm nor deny that. Whether or not you want to believe that it's real or not is up to you. But regardless, in this story, Bella and Rosalie are meant to be. It's just fate. But a love like theirs never comes easily. It's usually pretty painful at points. However, this story is far from over. Hope it doesn't annoy you guys with how long it will end up being…

For this chapter, I warn you, it's a little more NC-17 that previous chapters. I love writing smut in general, and this chapter's specific smut is actually important to the storyline. But I guess it's a little dirtier than what I've written so far. Not much, but Rosalie says and does some pretty dirty stuff. Bella too. They won't all be like this, but there's a little extra something(s) that's egging them on in this particular chapter. Just a warning…

###

Bella's perspective:

Bella spent the rest of the afternoon trying to distract herself from thinking about Rosalie and Jacob. And failing pretty miserably. She vacuumed her room, washed her sheets, painted her nails, and watched three installments of Planet Earth (Edward, also a nature show enthusiast, had given her the entire series last Christmas, but she hadn't even bothered to open it until discovering Rosalie's interest in the subject this morning.) She even went to the gym for an hour.

Nothing she did, however, gave her any solace from the nagging thoughts that plagued her jealous mind. Another two hours spent googling 'Rosalie Hale' and looking at every photo of the blonde available on the internet, as well as the few on her brother's facebook page (Rosalie didn't have her own account) only made things worse for her.

Her google search produced image after image of Rosalie, many of the images modeling shots from a great many more ad campaigns and magazine spreads than Rosalie had ever disclosed to her (Bella realized that she'd greatly downplayed that part of her life, and the work that she'd done for Ralph Lauren was only the tip of the proverbial iceberg – Bella found photos going all the way back to the mid 1990s, when Rosalie had been a young teen.) She found an even greater number of images of the blonde stunner on society web pages; photos of Rosalie at what seemed like a thousand different fundraisers and balls and dinner parties in Manhattan.

Bella couldn't decide what was worse; seeing the gorgeous girl posing with an endless stream of beautiful, wealthy, powerful people at the glamorous, high-society parties that Bella knew she'd never be invited to; or seeing Rosalie look almost nauseatingly, unimaginably beautiful in a massive collection of professional images from a modeling career that she'd clearly kept almost entirely hidden from Bella.

And Emmett's facebook page; the few pictures he'd posted of Rosalie were possibly the most painful for Bella to see. Because they were of the _real_ Rosalie – no crazy makeup or bizarre costumes, no arms of socialites or celebrities draped over her shoulders. Just eight photos of Rosalie, barefoot and wearing only jeans and a simple black sweater, captured on a rocky beach somewhere in what Bella guessed must have been Maine this past September. Rosalie had mentioned to her once that Emmett was an amateur photographer, and he was clearly quite good.

He'd caught the blonde in a quiet moment. She seemed completely unaware that her photograph was being taken, holding her knees to her chest as she looked out over the water. Bella figured that Emmett must have been playing with a zoom lens, because the shots varied from extremely close up to quite far away, and had been taken in such rapid succession that Rosalie's expression was the same in each picture.

It was sad. She looked sad. Hauntingly, heartbreakingly, epically, beautifully sad. But sad none-the-less. And she looked like the real Rosalie. _Her_ Rosalie.

###

Bella waited impatiently for Alice to finish her make-up. It was already past eight, and the music from their backyard had been blasting for more than two hours already.

"_Come on Al, get your ass in gear, I told everyone we'd be out there by eight and it's like, practically 8:30 already!" _Bella whined as she paced back and forth in the living room.

"_Come on BELL, quit being a chicken shit and go out there yourself, I'm sure she's already outside." _Alice mimicked her whine as she responded.

"_Okay first off, it's Bella, not 'Bell'. There's an 'A' on the end there, remember? And second, I don't know who this 'she' is that you're referring to, but FYI, I'm only waiting for you because I'm afraid you'll need help walking upright after inhaling that entire can of hairspray, I mean Jesus, you know people will be smoking out there, right?" _Bella smirked at her petite roommate as she plopped herself down on Alice's bed and huffed dramatically. _"I'm seriously worried that you're going to get all Michael Jackson Pepsi commercial on me…"_

"_Oh Bella, very funny little joke you made, aren't you just a hoot?" _Alice sing-songed as she added what Bella guessed was her fifteeth coat of mascara. _"I think we both know who the 'she' in question is. So if you want to wait for me so that you can look casually nonchalant around your girlfriend, zip it and let me achieve perfection."_

"_Don't call her that, even if I was, you know, into girls or something, she'd never be with me," _Bella grumbled quietly.

"_Bella," _Alice admonished her. _"Rosalie Hale is so clearly in love with you it's hysterical, cut the crap."_

"_Why do you say that?" _Bella was so desperate to talk to _someone_ about Rosalie that she didn't even bother to shut Alice down for her 'girlfriend' comment. _"I mean, it's just why would she be in love with me? She's so out of my league it's like she's playing an entirely different sport all-together, Alice."_

"_Are you crazy? Bella how is she out of your league?" _Alice looked at Bella disbelievingly; Bella was surprised by the sincerity in her voice.

"_Um, are YOU crazy, Alice?" _Bella mirrored Alice's disbelief. _"Let's see, hmm, where should I start?" _She questioned sarcastically and scratched her head for added effect, then continued: _ "Um, she's literally a genius, she's like American aristocracy or something, she's got this crazy pedigree, she's so rich that she doesn't even need to work but of course when she did work she was crazy successful, and in fashion no less, so like you so she has this insanely sophisticated taste in clothing - actually her taste level in everything is like worlds beyond mine… And she went to YALE, and I mean she's so incredibly beautiful but also, I mean, Alice, I know everyone says she's such a bitch and cold and whatever but she's actually really sweet and wonderful, amazing actually, I mean she's REALLY amazing and she's just so interesting and she's actually really funny and thoughtful and lovely and she's just really special and um…" _Bella cut her own ramblings short; feeling her face heating up about a thousand degrees as she suddenly realized what she'd just told Alice.

Bella had just basically given herself up, and she braced herself for what she was sure would be horrible teasing, or worse. Instead, Alice just smiled kindly at her and reached out to pat her hand reassuringly.

"_It's okay Bella, I get it. Take a few deep breaths; you're like a cute little tomato right now." _Alice spoke softly, trying to soothe the incredibly embarrassed brunette. _"Hey, Bella, come on, look at me." _Bella couldn't hide the pain in her eyes as she looked up her. _"Bella, I really don't like what you're implying about yourself. You're pretty bright too, you know, and you're interesting, and funny and yes, you're extremely beautiful, but I don't get why you think you have to be just like her or something in order to "be in her league." Do you honestly think Rosalie liking you is contingent on you being a rich, over-educated wasp like her? Because I don't think that's something she'd want. Ever think maybe she likes you so much because you aren't like her?"_

"_Right, because poor, illiterate white trash is so appealing."_

"_Bella shut the fuck up, you make like well over a hundred grand at Greystone, you were Phi Beta Kappa at the University of Florida, and you live in Manhattan. Oh yeah, poor illiterate white trash; that's SO you. You really think that about yourself?"_

"_No, um, I know that was kind of a bit of an exaggeration, but I just feel like I'm so mediocre compared to her…"_

"_Well you're not, that's all in your head. Rosalie Hale is TOTALLY in love with you, and for good reason."_

"_Stop saying that, she's NOT in love with me."_

"_Oh yes she is."_

"_No Alice, I'm serious, don't say shit like that. Look, I appreciate you being so nice to me and maybe you're right about some stuff, but I don't think I really focused enough on the main point behind my argument: Rosalie Hale is out of my league because she's a FUCKING SUPERMODEL. I mean her body alone is incredible, but with enough hard work that can be replicated, but her face, I mean, her absolutely fucking insanely gorgeous SUPERMODEL face? I mean, come on, Alice! Oh and by the way I had no idea that she was actually a huge, like legit supermodel until I googled her today, since she's neglected to ever mention that to me…"_

"_Oh Bella I could have told you that, you really didn't know? But she is NOT a supermodel, and she'd never say that she was. Because she just isn't one, trust me. She's just a model, Bella. A very successful one, but still just a model. Not a supermodel. She doesn't walk in shows anymore, and she's not like, getting Vogue covers or crazy huge contracts, she never was. Stop putting her on such a pedestal. She's really, really beautiful, I'll give you that, but Bella, when are you going to get it into your head that you're really, really beautiful too?" _

"_I'm not."_

"_I think Rosalie would beg to differ on that one."_

"_How do you know that?"_

"_She's told me."_

"_She's TALKED about me to you?"_

"_Pleading the fifth right now!" _Alice resumed her cheerful, bubbly tone as she shimmied into a hot pink mini dress and a black tuxedo jacket. _"Bella, can you put my shoes on for me? They're the nude suede ankle booties with the open toes right over there by the hamper, can you get them sweet adorable beautiful girl?"_

"_You need me to dress you? Is this my punishment for being so whiney?"_

"_No, no, my dress is so tight I can't actually bend over or I'll rip it. Ugh but you should be punished for have such a distorted self-image. I blame that sister of yours, by the way…"_

###

Minutes later, Bella sauntered out of her back door, a glamorous Alice in tow, and threaded into the throng of people that had overtaken both yards. There was no DJ at this party, but the hot tub was back, and in the unusually balmy weather of the fall night, most of the male revelers had again removed their shirts. She searched for Rosalie, scanning the entirety of the crowd and still coming up empty. She feared the worst; feared that Rosalie had abandoned the party to be with Jacob.

But a cool, seductive voice in her ear immediately assuaged her nerves.

"_Looks like a fucking white party with all these shirtless boys, doesn't it?" _The voice in her ear sent those tell-tale tingles down her spine, meaning only one thing; Rosalie had found her. She had no idea how the gorgeous blonde had snuck up on her, but she didn't care, turning quickly and wrapping her arms around the taller girl in a tight hug. _"Hello to you too," _Rosalie purred as she returned the embrace.

She looked unbelievably beautiful as her shiny blonde hair fell down her back in soft waves, and her pale, dewy skin shone in the ambient light of Emmett's beloved tiki torches. She stood almost a full foot taller than Bella in her slick, black patent peep-toe d'orsays, and her slender, willowy body was swathed in an incredible, tight black dress that draped at the neck and stopped a little below mid-thigh.

"_You look amazing," _Bella breathed into her ear. Rosalie smiled brightly at her as she pulled back and twirled seductively, revealing the back of the dress, if one could even call it that as the fabric draped all the way down to apex of her lower back and buttocks so that there really wasn't a 'back' to the dress at all. A long, thin, sparkling chain ran down the entirety of her graceful spine and stopped only inches above the fabric that covered her ass, and Bella was sure it was made of diamonds.

She twirled back around to face Bella, and the smaller girl also noticed the enormous diamond studs she'd seen previously during their Hamptons trip again affixed to two perfect earlobes. The blonde smiled coyly at her, her eyes looking greener than ever and rimmed lightly in smoky grey, and her full lips glossed in delicate pink. Rosalie looked incredible. As usual. Bella forgot entirely that Alice was still by her side.

"_You like?" _Rosalie purred. Bella nodded, mouth gaping.

"_Oh my god Rosalie, is that Dior spring 2010 runway, how did you get that piece so quickly?" _Alice chimed in, pulling the blonde away from Bella and into a greeting embrace of her own.

"_I pulled some strings –how sick is the cut of this dress, Alice? He may be a junkie, but Galliano is so not washed up yet…" _

Insecurity washed over Bella as Rosalie and Alice began to 'talk shop'. Rosalie lavished Alice with her full attention. Bella felt slighted and upset, even though she knew the feelings were irrational.

"_Dior – didn't you do an ad campaign for them when you were like 16, and you were basically naked in it along with a whole bunch of other models?" _Bella blurted her comment, and Rosalie's head whipped back to her.

"_How did you know that?" _The blonde snapped at her, but she actually sounded more embarrassed than angry.

"_I googled, Rosalie. I learned all sorts of stuff about you this afternoon…" _Bella was surprised by her new-found confidence. _"When were you planning to tell me that you were actually a working model?"_

Alice watched the two girls curiously. _"Um, I just didn't think you'd care…" _Rosalie said shyly.

"_Care that you hid your whole life from me? Noooo, not at all…" _Bella narrowed her eyes as she quipped back sarcastically, oblivious to Alice's presence.

"_Well it's not like you asked…" _Rosalie responded defensively. She stood suddenly taller and began to glower down at Bella. _"Yes, I'm a model."_

"_And a hot fucking model at that…" _A strange voice entered the mix and Bella watched, completely horrified, as a beautiful, extremely well-built blonde grabbed Rosalie from behind and spun her forcefully, capturing _her_ Rosalie in a kiss before she had a chance to protest. Instead of rebuking her entirely as Bella so wanted, Rosalie just pulled away from the kiss, but she still grasped at the girl's arms.

"_Aggressive, aren't we?" _She flirted with the offending blonde, who was also clad in some incredible, nameless-to-Bella designer frock, a short silver dress with intricate beading. Bella cursed the balmy weather. She wanted Rosalie in a ski parka right now.

Rosalie turned back to face Bella and Alice, and trained her eyes on Bella, expression cool and collected as she began to speak. _"Electra, please meet Alice and Bella." _She smiled at Alice briefly and then quickly fixed her gaze back on Bella and continued: _"Alice runs PR for Calvin, and Bella runs Pete Schwartzman's entire life at Greystone." _Bella felt her stomach churn as she watched Rosalie rub the beautiful blonde's toned arms. But Rosalie still looked at Bella, smoldering seductively now as she spoke: _"Girls, this is Electra Frary. She and I used to model together as teens until her tits got too big. Electra, you'll want to pay particular attention to Bella, seeing as she's the only girl that has ever had the power to break my heart…"_

"_Why should that matter to her?" _Bella spat, angry and jealous, and she glared at Rosalie. Alice just rolled her eyes and began to visually search for Jasper, whom she'd been hooking up with for weeks now.

"_Because Electra here has been trying to break my heart for years…" _Rosalie smirked at Bella, clearly not affected by the smaller girl's tone as she winked at her. _"To no avail Bella, I might add." _She turned to the intruding blonde and smiled warmly as she appraised her, but although her eyes were on the blonde, she still spoke to Bella: _"She's beautiful Bella, I'll give you that, but she's not nearly as beautiful as you…"_

"_Oh right, she's not in love with you, of course," _Alice leaned in and hissed in Bella's ear.

Alice then brought her voice back to an audible level as she questioned: _"Rosalie, where's that hot roommate of yours? I love you and Bella dearly, but I've seen Brokeback Mountain twice already, I don't need to watch it again tonight…"_

Rosalie looked entirely nonplussed by Alice's comment, and just embraced her again politely as she directed her to where Jasper could be found. The extremely annoying, as Bella had now deemed her, large-breasted blonde Electra continued to drape herself over Rosalie.

"_Rosalie, you know I can break your heart, honey, you just have to let me take my clothes off…" _She drawled her words in a sticky southern accent. Bella couldn't believe that this girl had actually, seriously just said that. She felt adrenaline surge to her fists, and she clenched them, about one more comment away from taking a swing at little miss monster tits. Rosalie must have sensed this, because she suddenly swatted Electra off and hoped over the Bella, drawing her arm protectively around the smaller girl's waist. Electra looked stunned at the rejection.

"_Electra, you can keep trying, but tonight is a no-go." _She flicked her wrist. _"Run along, you're upsetting my Bella…" _

She turned to face the brunette, smiled mischievously, and pecked her lips. _"My, my, don't you look mouth-watering; you wore my favorite skirt…" _Rosalie was right; Bella had worn Rosalie's favorite, ultra-short white denim mini skirt, topped off with a deep grey cap sleeve v-neck tee and her faded black, low profile converse. Her rich, chestnut hair was extra full and voluminous tonight, and it looked just a little bit wild.

But before Bella could respond to her compliment, Rosalie was gone, flitting off to join some other circle of beautiful people.

Bella suddenly felt so discouraged that she almost left, but as tingles again coursed her body, she looked up to see that Rosalie was now staring at her wantonly from across the yard, never breaking eye contact with Bella as she responded to various questions.

Rosalie gazed at Bella like she wanted her; like she _desperately_ wanted her. Almost as much as Bella, in that moment, desperately wanted _her._

###

The next three hours of the party continued that way; Rosalie sneaking up on Bella and lavishing her with compliments and affection, and then disappearing into the crowd, only to smolder at her with dark agate eyes regardless of where she stood or whom she spoke to. And every gaze sent heat straight to Bella's center. As Rosalie continued to push and pull at her emotions, Bella wondered what she had done to warrant such delicious torture. The only time Rosalie's eyes weren't fixed upon her were when she disappeared into the apartment with her brother, only to return looking a bit more wide-eyed than before and sniffing suspiciously. Bella watched her do this four or five times over the course of the night as the smaller girl pounded her drinks and chatted amicably with Alice and Jasper, and also a throng of young men that tried to hit on her, each giving up quickly when they realized that Bella's eyes were trained on a slender, evasive blonde, and completely unmovable. Bella again felt like she was in some sort of movie as she and Rosalie glowered at each other from across the yard, each girl more-or-less ignoring the comments of fellow partiers, only having eyes for each other. _This cannot possibly be real._

###

Bella leaned back on the cool glass of the mirrored medicine cabinet as Rosalie threw her legs over her shoulders and ripped off her thong, stuffing the tiny lace material that Alice had helped her buy to update her cotton undergarment wardrobe a few weeks prior somewhere down her dress.

She'd found herself in this position only minutes after the gorgeous blonde had suddenly snuck up on her as she opened the fridge in search of filler for her vodka tonic. Rosalie had purred "_hey you" _in her ear as she pressed herself aggressively against the small brunette's back and cupped her breasts through her shirt, the giant silver door of the sub-zero concealing her actions from the throng of party-goers that were gyrating to the beat of Emmett's house music playlist in the living room of Rosalie's apartment; the living room that had now practically turned into a rave.

As she had headed inside from the backyard in search of her next drink, Bella had noticed that Alice and Jasper were currently sucking face in the corner of the room as the beat blasted through the apartment, and watching them made her all the more desperate for some alone time with _her _blonde…

Bella had shivered as she felt a roving, perfectly manicured hand make its way past the hemline of her short skirt and down into her panties, rubbing insistently on her suddenly sensitive bud as Rosalie crooned in her ear: _"Bella, you look so fucking gorgeous tonight that if I don't taste you in the next two minutes I think I'll actually die right here on the marble floor of this ridiculous kitchen." _Bella had groaned, lamenting that, because of the apartment's open layout, the kitchen was partially exposed to the incredible number of drunken partiers packed onto the temporary living room dance floor.

Bella's glass had smashed to the floor as Rosalie suddenly scooped her up and carried her wedding-style to the bathroom.

Rosalie slammed the door shut and threw Bella up onto the sink, which was how she'd ended up in her current position, with her legs over Rosalie's shoulders as the blonde ripped her thong off. Rosalie kneaded her breasts forcefully as she pushed the tiny white denim skirt up and dove into Bella's aching center, sucking feverishly on the beautiful brunette's swollen clit without bothering to even kiss her before she began.

Bella moaned like crazy as Rosalie's tongue flicked her clit with expertise, and then moaned even louder and faster when Rosalie, her hands now grasping Bella's thighs and rubbing them forcefully, licked down to Bella's tight hole and pushed a long, hot tongue as far inside of her as she could. Bella scratched Rosalie's scalp and began to yank on her shining blonde locks as the taller girl started to fuck her with her tongue.

"_SHIT!" _Bella screamed, feeling her stomach clench as she came embarrassingly close to climax after only a few seconds of Rosalie's almost super-human tongue penetrating her and fucking her hard. Despite how insane the hot muscle felt as it wriggled inside of her, she swallowed and willed herself to try to last a little longer. Rosalie herself began to moan loudly, and she brought both hands to Bella's pussy, her strong, toned arms circling creamy thighs as she rubbed the engorged nub quickly while her moans vibrated into her core.

"_Oh fuck Rose, I'm so sorry but I can't take it, I can't hold on, I need to come, please oh FUCK give it to me, I'm so ready" _Bella pleaded with the blonde as a surge of heat coursed through her and she began to twitch violently, knocking a silver toothbrush holder and a matching soap dispenser off the sink and onto the floor. Rosalie continued to fuck her mercilessly, her moans vibrating against Bella's suddenly unbearably sensitive bud as she murmured _"Fuck Bella, you taste so good, you're so fucking tight, how are you so fucking tight?" _

Bella's thighs clenched and held Rosalie's head like a vice. She pulled on her hair, screaming as her climax rocked her body. As she panted for breath a few moments later, trying to come down from her high, she begged Rosalie to come up and kiss her.

Rosalie acquiesced, and brought the brunette into a tight embrace, kissing her passionately.

"_Do you taste that, Bella? Do you understand how amazing you taste to me?" _Rosalie questioned her seductively between sensual thrusts of her tongue into the smaller girl's eager mouth. Bella could indeed taste herself on Rosalie's tongue, and was surprised that she tasted so heady and sweet.

She moaned _"mm hmm" _in approval as she kissed Rosalie back just as forcefully. After a few minutes of embracing passionately, Bella heard Rosalie sniff again and pulled back.

###

"_Rose, why are you sniffing?" _The blonde glowered at her in response with a look that was both dangerous and arousing.

"_I'll show you," _She growled, and pulled Bella off the sink, wrenching the bathroom door open and yelling for her brother, whom Bella noticed was in the living room grinding on the hot blonde that had kissed Rosalie, and nearly gotten attacked by Bella, earlier that evening.

Rosalie yanked Bella into Jasper's room, waiting until Emmett joined them before she slammed the door shut and locked it. _"Em…" _she growled. _"Bella here wants to know why we're sniffing. I want to show her, do you think you could cut us some stuff and then get the hell out of here. Jasper won't need the room; it looks like Alice will be more than happy to accommodate him for the evening…"_

Emmett chuckled and shook his head, but Rosalie giggled and boxed his ears playfully. He quickly gave in, pulling a narrow, long square mirror off of Jasper's dresser and dumping a small pile of white powder onto it from a vial in his shirt pocket.

"_Okay, want me to cut you enough for the next few hours?" _He questioned, waggling an eyebrow at his sister as he whipped out a black American Express card and began to work expertly with the fine powder. _"You sure Bella can handle this?" _He raised his head and looked at Bella with doubt.

"_Coke?" _Bella protested, feeling unsophisticated and not liking it. _"Of course I can handle it, fuck you Emmett."_

"_Fuck you too, tough guy, and you're welcome, enjoy…" _Emmett rolled his eyes sarcastically as he cut line after line on the smooth, reflective surface. Rosalie held Bella from behind and rested her chin on Bella's shoulder as she watched her brother work. Emmett pulled out a twenty and began to roll it, but Rosalie cut him off:

"_Emmett, our tough guy is worth more than that…" _She chided him.

"_Fine, fine…" _Emmett laughed as he put the twenty back in the pocket of his designer jeans and brought a hundred out instead. Rosalie grabbed it from him and moved next to Bella, smirking confidently at her as she twirled the bill in her hands and sucked three lines up with troubling ease.

"_Bella, are you sure?" _She questioned as she handed the rolled-up bill to the smaller girl, stroking her back lightly with her free hand.

"_Fuck you Rosalie, I'm not a baby," Bella_ scoffed as she blew four lines in rapid time.

"_Feisty," _Emmett commented as he headed for the door. _"I'll leave you two to it…"_

"_Em, I love you buddy, turn the music on in here, k?" _Rosalie chirped after him, gently taking the bill from Bella and blowing two more lines. Bella yanked it back and sucked up two more of her own as Emmett slammed the door and music suddenly reverberated through Jasper's small, windowless bedroom. _"Hey, slow down little one, I know you're tough but don't kill yourself…"_

"_What are there, speakers in here or something?" _Bella questioned, her eyes searching for the source of the beats that now filled the room almost as loudly as they had played in the living room. It sounded like they were in the middle of a club. Rosalie didn't answer her, instead reaching out and removing the rolled up bill from Bella's hands, picking up the mirror, and placing it on the shelf that hung above the headboard of Jasper's bed.

"_Bella, you know how much I hate to ask for this, considering how fucking sexy you look in that skirt…" _Rosalie leaned against the bedside table and narrowed her eyes seductively "…_ but lose the clothes, okay? Better yet, let me do it for you…" _

Rosalie dropped down in a flash and made quick work of the laces on Bella's chucks, ripping the shoes off and throwing them in a corner. She yanked her skirt down next, and then pulled off her t-shirt as she pressed Bella's back to the bed, eyeing her hungrily. _"God Bella, why do you do this to me? Why do you have to be so unbelievably, irresistibly beautiful? You make it hard for a girl to keep her dignity with that fucking gorgeous face and those insane legs of yours. Unless you want me to think of nothing but wrapping those legs around my head, wear pants from now on…" _

The drugs suddenly hit Bella in a massive rush, and she sprang to life, tugging at the hem of Rosalie's dress and pulling it forcefully over her head, quickly stripping the beautiful blonde down to an insanely sexy red lace bra and boy short set. Bella marveled at how the bra, which was basically just two lace cups connected at the front, could stay up, and she ran a finger over Rosalie's lace-clad breast. _"It's sticky, I'll show you in a minute," _Rosalie whispered, reading the smaller girl's mind. She let Bella keep trailing the outline of the lace as she removed her jewelry. Bella tugged the clasp of her own bra off with her free hand before Rosalie could get to it, and pressed her naked body into Rosalie's, kissing her neck quickly before she hopped up onto the bed.

Bella beckoned Rosalie to join her with a curled finger. Rosalie, smiling like a kitten about to get her cream, jumped on top of her and forced her into the mattress. She attacked her, covering her chest with kisses and then meeting her lips in an eager kiss as Bella trailed her fingers down into the waist of Rosalie's boyshorts. Rosalie moaned at the contact, but then jumped off of her.

"_Wait, the music blasting in here, it's too intense for just this, I need to go get something…" _Bella giggled at the suddenly excited look on Rosalie's face, and the blonde giggled back and winked at her before flying out of the bedroom and back into the party, her buxom, incredible body covered only by a tiny pair of lacy red boyshorts and a microscopic bra.

###

She returned moments later, gleeful. She clutched a purple, felt dust bag with "Ralph Lauren" emblazoned in silver script across it. Bella giggled again. _"You just ran right through the party to your room mostly naked, didn't you?" _Rosalie nodded, looking like a little kid that had just done something very naughty. She giggled as well, and glided over to stand by the bedside table.

"_What's that?" _Bella breathed, lying recumbent on the bed, her head nestled in the pillows, as she watched Rosalie rummage around in the purple felt bag.

"_It's a surprise, but get up and take the rest of my clothes off before I show you…" _Rosalie growled at her and Bella felt heat coursing her body. She jumped off the bed and ran her fingers down Rosalie's back, catching the red fabric between her thumb and forefinger as she ghosted her hands farther down the blonde's endless legs and pulled them off. In a moment of boldness, on the way back up Bella leaned in and pressed a kiss to her irresistible, exposed pussy, and Rosalie jumped back in surprise, letting out an adorable yelp.

"_Naughty girl," she_ scolded. _"Now take my bra off and kiss me there instead, and that's an order." _Bella nodded, a huge smile spread across her face as she moved almost super-humanly fast to remove Rosalie's bra. _Fuck, this coke is seriously strong, _she mused, surprised at her own agility and energy. She allowed her eyes to rake over Rosalie's naked body for a second, ignoring Rosalie's own wanton stare as she let herself take in every inch of the blonde's perfect figure. Rosalie's pale gold hair danced around her head, teased by the breeze from a fan Jasper kept on one of his bookshelves.

Before she could say anything about the incredible girl in front of her, Rosalie interjected with a breathy _"Bella, you look so fucking incredible with your clothes off. I don't know why I ever let you wear them around me anymore…" _

Bella finally allowed Rosalie's smoldering emerald eyes to catch her own, and she smirked at the blonde confidently, the coke giving her words she didn't know she had.

"_See something you like, Rose?" _She husked, every nerve ending in her body screaming for contact with the girl she desired so powerfully. Rosalie nodded, eyes seductive. _"So then stop trying to eye-fuck me and get over here." _She pulled Rosalie into her aggressively as she again leaned back into the bed, and captured her lips in a desperate kiss.

The blonde kissed her back, but wouldn't succumb to her insistent tongue, instead pulling away and teasing her. _"No way little one, I call the shots, not you. Get on the bed and watch me." _Rosalie's deceptively strong arms gathered her up once again and literally tossed her onto the elevated mattress. Bella huffed as she flopped into the pillows.

"_Bella," _Rosalie enunciated each syllable as she called her name from where she stood, both hands searching within the purple bag that she'd placed on the large bedside table to the right of Jasper's bed. _"Are you watching?" _She continued to smolder at the smaller girl as she removed the item she was searching for from the bag.

Bella gasped. It was a long, thick clear dildo with a purple tint, attached to black leather straps. _"Don't worry," _Rosalie smirked as she fastened the strap-on around her slender, sculpted pelvis. _"I'll be gentle. Do you want me to fuck you, Bella?" _Normally Bella would have been timid; she probably would have protested. This was a huge, scary new step for her. But the cocaine that coursed through her seemed to stifle any protest, and Bella found herself all the more awash with desire, and so unbelievably turned on as she watched Rosalie hop onto the bed and grab the purple shaft with one hand, leering at her predatorily.

"_Jesus Rose, it's huge…" _Bella breathed, completely astonished at the blonde's confidence with the apparatus.

"_It's only eight and a half inches, you'll love it…" _Rosalie purred as she knelt over Bella's legs and began to tease her opening with the head.

Bella groaned, but jerked away slightly. _"Do you want me to fuck you with this, or not?" _Rosalie snarled impatiently.

"_Rose, why are you acting like this?" _Bella felt suddenly afraid. She didn't like feeling like a piece of meat; she didn't like the way Rosalie spoke to her. _"No I don't want you to 'fuck me with this'; don't talk to me that way, I'm not a fucking whore."_

In an instant, Rosalie's eyes softened.

"_Shit, I'm so sorry Bella, I got carried away. You're right, we don't have to do this, let's just call it a night…" _She sat up on her knees and began to unfasten the harness. Bella reached out and caught her hand.

"_No Rose, I don't want to stop, I didn't say that…" _She began, her chocolate eyes pleading. _"Just not like this, okay? Just go slow, I want to feel like you care about me…"_

"_Oh," _Rosalie suddenly looked really upset. She leaned forward, pressing her arms into the pillows on either side of Bella's head until her face was only inches away. _"Bella, I do care about you. A lot actually. In spite of myself. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I do care about you." _She brushed an errant strand of chestnut out of Bella's eyes tenderly, and her voice was soft and gentle. _"Let's just kiss for a little while, okay? Is that okay?"_

But Bella again felt the stimulant continue to coarse through her system. _Of course that's okay, _she thought. She rolled Rosalie from her position pressed on top of her over onto her side, and tilted her own head to meet the blonde's addictive lips. Rosalie kissed her slowly, running her hands up and down Bella's back as she pressed their lips together.

"_Why did you say 'in spite of myself,' Rose?" _Bella pulled back and questioned her breathlessly. Rosalie suddenly looked sad, yet again.

"_Um, I guess because sometimes I just feel really overwhelmed by how much I care about you," _Rosalie bit her lip and looked down nervously. _"And I compensate by acting really aggressively with you. I'm really sorry. Just let me kiss you for a while. I know you hate that I can't always say how I feel about you; I can sense that. But at least let me show you…"_

###

Rosalie spent the next fifteen minutes showing Bella, kissing her gently and sweetly, and pulling back occasionally to peck her nose, causing Bella to giggle. _"You're so pretty, little baby bunny," _Rosalie told her affectionately at least four times, making the brunette blush furiously. _"Especially when you blush. And you're the best kisser on planet earth, did you know that, Thumper?" _Bella shook her head 'no' each time. _"Please, will you kiss me again, Bella?" _Rosalie would then ask sweetly.

Bella felt so much more comfortable with this Rosalie; this was _her_ Rosalie. She began to kiss the blonde with more passion, and after a few more minutes she pulled Rosalie back on top of her. Rosalie let the head of the fake cock tease her opening again, making Bella hiss as it hit her sensitive spots, but she did not push it forward. They continued to kiss as house songs blasted into the room, but Rosalie ignored the beat and kept her own slow pace.

"_What are you waiting for, Rose?" _Bella breathed, knowing that she was so wet and now feeling desperately ready to have Rosalie inside of her.

"_You," _Rosalie breathed back and kissed her again. Bella kept her eyes open, and watched how Rosalie's pink eyelids closed so delicately, her expression appearing to be almost loving, as she kissed the smaller girl.

"_I'm ready," _Bella whispered back. She braced herself for what was to come.

With timing that was almost eerie, "Breathe on Me," the Britney Spears song, began echoing through the small room. Yet instead of the strap-on, Bella felt familiar, delicate fingers teasing her opening. _"Rose, what are you doing, I'm okay; I want it, actually…"_

"_No, I want to be there first. I want to be inside of you, Bella, is that okay?" _Bella wasn't sure how on earth Rosalie could be so tender and affectionate with all the drugs that surely coursed through her system. The drugs that made Bella just want to fuck her like a bunny rabbit.

But she nodded 'okay', and Rosalie leaned in for a gentle kiss, rubbing her tongue sensually over Bella's pink lips as she eased two fingers into her. It felt so good; it felt so fucking good to have Rosalie's fingers inside of her again. It had been almost two whole days.

Bella instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around her beautiful lover and pulled her down as close as she could while letting the blonde's tentative tongue enter her mouth. Rosalie inside of her felt insanely good. So insanely good.

She breathed her name out over and over as Rosalie began her ministrations. She thrust in and out of her, slowly and gently, for so much longer than Bella would have liked. She needed more of Rosalie, and began to need more of her so much that she suddenly couldn't control herself, and she thrust her tongue forcefully into the blondes' mouth while she grabbed the head of the cock and pressed it into her opening.

She felt Rosalie smile into her lips, but the blonde wouldn't push herself in, and Bella had to grab her hips and force her closer. The blonde gasped as the base pressed down on her clit with Bella's unexpected movements, and she finally shifted her hips, slowly letting herself penetrate the smaller girl's tight opening, just as the first chorus of the song kicked in.

"_Bella," _Rosalie whispered, _"I'm warning you, I'm really high right now, if you want this I can't promise that I'll be able to control myself, and I don't want to hurt you…"_

"_Rose," _Bella gasped back as she felt the full length finally filling her insides. _"I can't control myself much longer either, and I don't want to. Just. Fuck. Me."_

With that, Rosalie began to move in and out of her, hands suddenly at Bella's hips pulling her up to meet the increasing pressure of her thrusts. It felt like heaven; Bella was in heaven. _"Mmm fuck, that feels so good Rose…"_

Rosalie began to really thrust into her, and she tucked the smaller girl's knee into her chest to get better access as the seductive beat drove her hips.

"_Uhhh…how is it that it can feel like you're fucking me and making love to me at the same time?" _Bella moaned as her lover pushed in and out, each muscle alert as she began to roll her body down onto Bella every time she thrust.

"_Because I never stop making love to you, even when I'm fucking you as hard as I can Bella," _Rosalie panted, her lips dragging across Bella's cheek as she moaned breathily. _"You should know that by now. It doesn't matter what I do to you, there's always love behind it." _

Bella dove for her lips, hungry to show her just how much Rosalie's admission meant to her. It was almost like she'd told Bella she loved her. Almost.

Some kind of strange Spanish guitar music, backed by a throbbing house beat, blasted through the speakers as Rosalie pushed into her slowly to the beat, and then faster to match as it picked up. Bella moaned in rhythm with the pulsing music. She'd never had anyone fuck her like this…

The heat inside of her grew stronger and hotter with each of Rosalie's thrusts, and Bella felt herself getting close. Rosalie's agile fingers worked her clit with increasing pace as the song changed and Bella heard the familiar beat of "Call Me" resonate through the room.

She came first three quarters of the way through that song, but Rosalie was relentless, breathing _"come for me again" _in her ear as she pushed further into her wetness. Bella's body betrayed her, totally limp as her orgasm rocked through her, but Rosalie flipped them expertly so that Bella was suddenly on top.

As Bella continued to pulse, her slender body jerking erratically as Rosalie's deft fingers rubbed her suddenly too-sensitive clit, Rosalie breathed _"God do you have any idea how insanely beautiful you look on top of me?"_

"_No, I think you're crazy," _she moaned as she twitched, trying to ride her and feeling how easily Rosalie could suddenly move within her as her juices really started flood her core. A new song came on; "Lady" Bella thought she remembered the name. It was something Rosalie had previously told her that she'd heard over and over during a semester in Spain back when she was at Yale.

"_Bella," _Rosalie panted, clearly almost on the brink herself. This new position was clearly putting a ton of pressure on her own center. _"You are so fucking beautiful, I know you never believe me, but God I think everything about you is so beautiful that it's almost unfathomable…" _Bella rocked against Rosalie's hips as she tried to ride the blonde harder, whom she noticed was looking absolutely mesmerized as she stared at the smaller girl on top of her. Bella willed herself, or maybe the drugs willed her, to keep going, despite how much she wanted to collapse into Rosalie and just let her body shake and twitch as her orgasm continued to pulse.

"_Rose, mmm, mmm, I can't, mmm, stop, mmm, coming," _she moaned, trying to explain her jerky, erratic movements to the gorgeous blonde that watched her, completely entranced, from her place on the pillows.

"_Just look at me, focus on my eyes Bella," _Rosalie commanded in a sultry voice. _"I'm not done with you; I want you to keep riding me until this song is over…" _Bella tried to force her body up and down, and finally a rush of adrenaline, most likely spurred by Rosalie's words, overcame her.

She began to bob up and down on top of the blonde with newfound energy, and Rosalie responded with gusto. _"Oh Jesus Bella, you look so fucking hot, everything about you is beautiful. I wish you could see your pussy right now, God even your pussy is breathtaking. It's like, the perfect color, deep pink and glistening wet as it sucks on my cock. I'm sorry to be so graphic, but I can't help myself; do you know how much I love your pussy? Do you know how wet I get every single time I see it? And your face and your body; you're perfection, Bella. You're absolute fucking perfection." _Rosalie began to thrust harder as she babbled. Bella was too high to dispute her, but not so high that she didn't wonder how this incredible blonde could say such things about her. _"You can't keep doing this to me much longer, Bella; I swear to God, watching you ride me like this, your perfect breasts bouncing up and down as you take in every inch; I'm going to come, Bella, I swear to God, and I can't come until you come again. I want to come when you do. I can feel your clit twitching. Can you hold it? FUCK I'm so close…"_

Rosalie, looking up at her with her gorgeous, neon green eyes, lust bathing her perfect features, was almost too much for Bella, but she nodded and let Rosalie's skilled hands, now firmly affixed to her hips, guide her body as it rose and fell. As the song neared its close, she felt another climax begin to rock her body, and this time it completely took her breath away. _"Rose," _she tried to speak, but barely got out the words between the incredible pleasure that felt like it was literally tearing her in two. _"I can't hold it anymore, I'm sorry…"_

"_Oh FUCK, me neither, FUCK, FUCK, kiss me, Bella, kiss me…" _Rosalie whispered and moaned as Bella collapsed yet again onto her and met her lips, her brain too haywire to kiss Rosalie back when the blonde crashed her tongue into her mouth. Rosalie pressed desperate, open-mouthed kisses to her swollen lips as her fingers massaged Bella's engorged clit. One last pinch of the nub was all it took to send Bella over an even greater edge, and as she screamed she inadvertently clamped down on Rosalie's tongue with sharp teeth. She tasted metallic and knew she'd drawn blood, but she couldn't care as waves of white softness flooded her brain and her eyes rolled back into her head. She felt like she was flying; or dying –she wasn't sure which as strange nerve responses shot stars into her brain and the passion of her climax completely numbed her. She barely registered Rosalie's soothing tones and tender embrace as the blonde stroked her cheeks and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. Bella felt like she was in another world entirely.

###

Bella laid dazed, her entire body still shaking and every nerve ending tingling. At first she didn't even notice the expert hands that were fastening something onto her, but then she felt a slight weight press down deliciously on her hyper-sensitive clit. Her eyes shot open.

"_Oh my God, are you fucking kidding me?" _Bella panted, still barely able to speak, but just enough to convey her complete astonishment._ "You're going to let me do THAT?" _

The blonde hovered above her, making final adjustments. She glowered down at Bella, narrowing her eyes, and she reached behind the girl's head to grab the small mirror and the rolled-up $100.

"_Yes, Bella," _she purred. _"I'm going to let you fuck me. But first sit up; you're going to need some extra energy…" _

Bella did as she was told, pushing herself to sitting position with trembling arms. She didn't want to do any more coke, but this crazy, horny, party girl Rosalie was hard to want to refuse. _"Are you sure I should do more, Rose?" _She breathed. The music pumped through the walls – Bella actually visually searched the room for a _third_ time, sure that speakers had to be hidden somewhere.

"_Normally I would say no because I don't want to waste good coke, but Bella, I know it's not going to hurt you, and I know Emmett's playlist, and it's about to get really good." _She inhaled two lines with that disturbing expertise of hers and then leaned in to within inches of Bella's lips. Bella let her eyes drop for a second to take in her irresistible stomach as it flexed slightly, then quickly brought them back up to meet Rosalie's wild, electric green ones that were again fixed on her own. _"God Bella, you have fucking beautiful eyes. They're fucking addicting. YOU'RE fucking addicting." _Rosalie husked low and seductive, and Bella shivered slightly. She had her head tilted downward, and she was giving Bella that dangerous under look again.

"_Bella," _she husked. _"I want you to fuck me, do you understand?" _Bella was suddenly too dumbstruck to respond. She felt heat flooding her core for the billionth time that night. _"Bella, do you want to fuck me?" _Rosalie's voice was low and sultry. Bella, caught in Rosalie's gaze, felt like one of those humans in the middle of getting glamoured on True Blood or something. All she could feel was her heart pounding, her body tingling, and Rosalie's eyes; which seemed to be seeing every single part of her. The blonde looked like she wanted to actually eat her, but literally so. _She wants to actually consume me, _Bella thought.

"_Are you a vampire?" _She finally responded, voice so breathy and shaky that she could barely form the sentence. Rosalie, with lightning speed, was suddenly at her neck, and she bit. Hard. Bella flinched and screamed, almost knocking the mirror out of Rosalie's hand. Rosalie began to laugh hysterically. She licked the bruised teeth marks soothingly and pulled back to again meet Bella's eyes. She looked so predatory as she laughed, gorgeous blonde hair fanning out all around her, bright white teeth exposed and magnified by swollen, blood-filled lips. Her eyes bore into Bella.

But then she seemed to soften. Bella wondered what had changed. She was embarrassed by how much the girl had just scared her. _"Hey, sorry," Rosalie_ whispered, actually sounded genuinely worried. She reached out with her free hand and stroked Bella's cheek. _"I shouldn't have tried to scare you like that, it's okay…"_

"_No, I'm a huge pussy." _Bella said, completely embarrassed and betrayed once more by her blush.

"_No, you're not, you're on drugs and I went a little overboard there…" _Rosalie's eyes were soft; she looked at Bella tenderly, thumb brushing back and forth across the flushed, hot skin of her cheek. It felt momentarily so good to have Rosalie look at her this way that Bella sighed loudly and let her posture slump with relief. _"Bella, we don't have to do this; we can stop. You don't have to do this…" _Bella considered her words for a moment, teeth working her lower lip as she nibbled it. She almost hesitated, but suddenly she realized what she was about to refuse.

She grabbed the mirror out of Rosalie's hand and brought the bill to her nostril, quickly inhaling three lines. She couldn't believe how much cocaine Emmett had left for them; there were still eight lines left on the silver glass. _"Jesus Bella, you didn't have to do that," Rosalie_ exclaimed with surprise and worry.

"_No, don't worry Rosalie, I'm fine," _Bella began affectionately. But then suddenly heat began to rise into her head, and she felt a strong surge. _"Shit this is good," _she growled, suddenly feeling aggressive and quite brave. _"Fuck Rosalie, do you have any idea how much I want this? How much I want to do this to you?" _Before Rosalie could take the mirror from her, Bella dropped her head and blew two more lines.

"_Bella, Jesus Christ I know they're tiny lines but try not to kill yourself!" _Bella smiled abnormally wide. She loved when Rosalie worried about her. Fuck, she _loved_ it.

"_Rose, you do three more, then we're even," she_ commanded the blonde as she thrust the mirror under Rosalie's chin and held the bill up.

"_No, I'm good, you're freaking me out," _Rosalie protested.

"_Well you're not nearly as high as I am, because CLEARLY you have a better tolerance which is SO not cool but I'll yell at you later for that because right now you're here and you're naked…" _Bella meant every word; she was soaring, and suddenly so completely horny she thought she might jump out of her skin. _"And you've been freaking me out ALL DAY, so now you do three lines, it's only fair..." _

Bella urged her own swollen lips into a full pout and tried to adjust her eyes into a woeful, puppy-dog expression. She searched Rosalie's neon orbs, marveling at how they suddenly looked like two bright green flames. _"Your eyes look like the fireplace at Christmas right after my dad throws on some of that metallic wrapping paper that probably shouldn't be burned and the flames get all green…You have green fire eyes…" _she glowered at the blonde, trying to be seductive, but Rosalie just smiled affectionately back.

"_Your creative word choice has always been one of my favorite things about you. I mean, was always…" _Rosalie trailed off. Bella nudged the mirror at her.

"_Was? Am I not being creative enough for you, Rose? Because guess what, I really want to fuck you right now. I really NEED to fuck you right now. And it's all your fault for giving me coke and then being so fucking gorgeous and sexy and naked and straddling me. You're so fucking hot you're like a thousand Kelvins, I mean, you're At LEAST a thousand Kelvins, and that's roughly 1400 degrees Fahrenheit. PLEASE do three more lines and let me fuck you…"_

Rosalie looked completely stunned. _"It's actually only 1340.6 degrees Fahrenheit, but holy shit where did that come from?"_

"_You told me you like chemistry. I'm trying to learn about stuff you like. I didn't just google YOU today, Rosalie…_" Bella's heart raced. She hadn't felt this confident in her entire life. God she was SO CLOSE to actually getting to fuck Rosalie. And maybe when she was done fucking her, she'd make love to her, too. Maybe she could show her how much she wanted her. How much she loved her. She felt like she could do anything right now. She leaned in and licked a tear that she noticed was running down Rosalie's cheek. She searched her face for more, confused when she found none. _That was odd, _she thought.

"_Bella, you learned how to flirt with me using an absolute thermodynamic temperature scale?" _Rosalie sounded so touched. She looked so touched. _She loves it, _Bella mused.

"_Yeah but I wish I'd said two thousand Kelvins, I think you're more like 3,140.6 degrees Fahrenheit in terms of hotness right now…" _She winked at the gorgeous, awestruck blonde and lowered the hand that held the mirror slightly so that she could press a quick, open-mouth kiss to Rosalie's lips. _"See and this time I didn't round up, and yes before you say anything, I know 1340 should technically be rounded down, but you're too fucking sexy and incredible for that, you defy mathematical law…"_

"_Ugh, Jesus Christ give me that FUCKING mirror already…" _Bella squealed and giggled as Rosalie grabbed the mirror. Her research had paid off. Rosalie looked up at Bella one last time, straw already held to her nose. _"Three you say, is that what you want me to do, Thumper?" _ Bella nodded gleefully as she clapped. She felt like she was so strong she could clap for the next four days. She was invincible. Rosalie smirked at her and rolled her eyes, brilliant, green fire running almost all the way up into her head and then back to center. She smoldered at Bella while she cleared three white lines quickly, inhaling deeply afterwards.

"_I never knew blow could be so fucking sexy," Bella_ growled, pushing up on her arms to try to lick Rosalie's nipple as she leaned over the brunette to place the mirror back on the shelf above the headboard. Rosalie shivered as Bella's eager tongue brushed her perfect pink bud. _"Is that why you let me call you Rose?" _Bella continued to growl. _"Because you know I'm so in love with your fucking insanely hot little rosebud nipples?"_

Rosalie raised an eyebrow. _"You're in love with my nipples, are you?"_

"_Among other things, yes." _More warmth than she thought could exist in a healthy human being radiated from Bella's center as she watched Rosalie extend an elegant arm to the bedside table on the right of the bed, once again leaning over Bella and allowing the brunette's tongue to connect with her nipple for a second as she grabbed a bottle from the purple felt bag and then leaned back, arching slightly as she expertly flicked the cap with a blood-red fingernail. She began to rub whatever she'd squirted into her palm up and down the shaft of Bella's transparent purple strap-on. Bella thought she might die as she watched the long, deft fingers of Rosalie's graceful hand work it up and down, the base connecting and pressing down on her clit as Rosalie stroked it. _"Not that I'm complaining, but Rose, why exactly are you giving me a hand job?"_

Rosalie laughed melodiously, and Bella noticed that her pupils were so dilated that her eyes looked almost black. And that looked extremely, extremely sexy. _"Well Bella," _Rosalie purred low and dangerous. Bella's stimulant enhanced mind guessed that the drugs were kicking in for the blonde as well, because Rosalie looked like a predator again. Not that she minded. _"Since you are the only woman that has ever been about to fuck me this way, I'll let you in on a little secret…" _Bella laid back, hands clasped behind her head, as Rosalie leaned forward to whisper in her ear, her hand still working the shaft up and down. Rosalie was using only her core muscles for balance as she leaned in; Bella noticed this, although her eyes stayed trained on the blonde's, and she also noticed that Rosalie was squirting a little more of whatever was in that tube into her hand and rubbing it on herself. Bella felt like a superhero- she could notice every single thing going on in the room and _still_ focus on the gorgeous girl in front of her.

Rosalie leaned down to her ear, breathing intentionally heavy.

"_What's the secret?" _Bella gasped as she felt that skilled tongue tease her hole. God, Rosalie's tongue in her ear felt absolutely incredible.

"_The secret, Bella…" _Rosalie continued to purr, each word sending tingles up and down the smaller girl's spine. _"…is that since I rarely let anyone fuck me, I'm awfully tight, so I have to lube up before I do this…"_

"_Why are you letting me do this? Why me?" _But Bella didn't sound innocent or earnest in her questioning; she actually sounded almost as dangerous as Rosalie. Clearly her tone spurred Rosalie on, because she pulled back and glared at the brunette, growling much more effectively than Bella ever could as she replied _"because I know Emmett's playlist, and the song that's starting in about two minutes reminds me exactly of you. I've been listening to it non-stop since the gym this afternoon. And I want you to fuck me to it…"_

"_What is it?" _Bella panted, watching with wide eyes as Rosalie put the tube back on the table and shifted to her knees. She felt a rush so strong she briefly saw stars as she realized Rosalie was positioning herself on top of Bella's temporary member.

"_David Guetta. It's new, you won't know it. Getting Over You – that's what it's called." _Bella felt a rush of concern at the fact that this particular title reminded Rosalie of her. Of her? But as the beats of whatever house song was currently blasting into the room started to die down, Rosalie leaned forward, locking her arms and bracing them with a hand on each of Bella's shoulders and pressing the smaller girl into the mattress as she let her arms bear her full body weight for a split second. Bella watched, completely transfixed, as Rosalie reached back and spread her dark pink, perfect lips apart and began to ease herself down onto Bella. A whimper snapped Bella's eyes back to her face, and she gazed into liquid agate eyes as Rosalie bit her lip, face focused in concentration as she slowly took the thick shaft in, trying to maintain visual contact with Bella but eyes occasionally squeezing shut and opening again as she brought more and more of it into her. Bella, her arms previously useless at her sides, instinctively reached out to hold the blonde at the hips and help guide her down.

"_Does it hurt?" _Bella questioned.

"_It's huge…" _Rosalie whispered. _"It's really fucking huge."_

"_Oh God, say that again…" _Bella moaned.

"_It's really, really fucking huge, Bella…" _Rosalie kept her white teeth affixed to her rosy lower lip as she smoldered at the brunette, sitting up and placing her hands on top of Bella's at her sides. _"You're really fucking huge, Bella," _she breathed. _"But I like it." _

She gasped and Bella watched her take in the last inch of the fake cock. _"Oh God, Bella, I really fucking like it…" _She kept her eyes trained on Bella's as she took her hands off of hers and placed them flat on Bella's stomach. She pushed down slightly as she lifted up and slid up the length of the shaft, sighing again as she brought herself back down just as slowly, eyes again squeezing shut and opening, over and over. Her face was contorted, but exquisitely so, as she began to ride Bella. Bella knew in that moment exactly why Rosalie had talked so dirty when Bella had ridden her like this; watching the gorgeous blonde, hair blowing slightly as it fell all around her, breasts beginning to bounce a bit, every perfect inch of her incredible body on full display for Bella, lips bitten pensively by perfect teeth; in this moment Bella understood. Watching Rosalie bob up and down on top of her was the hottest, most arousing thing Bella had ever seen.

"_That's it, Rose, you're doing great. Just let me fuck you slowly, okay?" _Bella began to raise her hips slightly to meet Rosalie's as the blonde dropped down. Rosalie groaned deeply as Bella began to fuck her, thrusting gently into her in time with the blonde's movements. _"Oh Rose, you can't imagine how fucking sexy you look…" _Bella's growl was improving. She was so turned on right now, how could it not? She thrust into Rose with a little more force, and the blonde moaned loudly. _"Do you like that, Rose? Does that feel good?" _Rose nodded, pushing herself off, hands still pressed down on Bella's abs, as she began to ride Bella harder. She brought one hand away, using her legs for leverage as she moved faster. Bella watched her grab the bottle of lube and put a dime sized amount on her pointer finger. She reached down and slipped the finger underneath the harness.

"_Oh fuck Rose," Bella_ hissed as she felt the tip of Rosalie's well lubricated finger come to rest directly on top of her own clit. The song changed, and Bella heard an unfamiliar, fast intro beat reverberate through the room, the base so loud that it shook the picture frames on the walls.

"_Bella, start fucking me harder," Rosalie_ commanded, and Bella placed her feet flat on the mattress so she could lift her hips with some force. She started to really thrust into her. Rosalie moaned again, the mixture of heavy breath and sound incredibly sexy to Bella. _"Shit Bella, you're better at this than I thought…" _Rosalie breathed.

"_Oh yeah, am I?" _Bella growled back, her body shaking slightly every time she pushed up and Rose pressed down on her sensitive nub. This was absolutely fucking incredible. _"You like it when I fuck you?"_

"_Cocky, aren't we?" _Rosalie snarked back, and Bella realized that now, as Rosalie was finally comfortable with the length and wide inside of her, the blonde was again fucking her expertly. She rode the shaft like a porn star.

"_Yeah, I am cocky. I have the hottest girl on the planet riding my dick, why shouldn't I be? And I've had plenty of practice when it comes to this kind of fucking, believe me, Just ask Edward…"_

Rosalie cringed slightly at her comment, but then a huge smirk spread across her face in spite of the fact that it continued to contort slightly each time she dropped down onto the cock. "_Thank you, Bella, I just remembered why this song reminds me so much of you." _She leaned back, arching as she began to impale herself on the massive dildo, bouncing up and down in time with the increasing beat. She ran her fingers through her hair and started to move her body like she was dancing, rolling it slowly and sensually. She was an incredible dancer.

"_God you're dancing like a fucking stripper, rolling your body like that," _Bella breathed. Rosalie just laughed again, throwing her head back seductively, flipping her hair.

"_Harder, Bella, fuck me harder, I love this part." _Rosalie kept her fingers threaded in her hair, breasts bouncing and body writhing as she fixed her gorgeous eyes on Bella once again. She began to mouth the words to her.

"_All the things I know right now, if I'd only known back then, there's no getting over, there's no getting over, there's just no getting over you…"_

Rosalie reached back and pulled Bella's knees up so that she could lean back against them. Bella couldn't make sense of the lyrics; the drugs coursed through her and she couldn't believe how easily she found the rhythm of the music, thrusting into Rosalie with each beat.

"_Wish I could spin my world into reverse, just have you back again, there's no getting over, there's no getting over, there's just no getting over you…"_

"_Rosalie, what does that mean, why do you need to get over me?" _Bella panted, but the blonde didn't respond. Instead Rosalie leaned forward and grabbed the mirror and sucked up another line while the beat built up again. She brought it down to Bella and let her snort another one as well, and put the mirror back.

"_Bella, just shut up and fuck me…" _She leaned back onto Bella's knees, and the slick sweat of their bodies felt heavenly as Rosalie started to slide up and down against her as the beat came to a climax, then suddenly sat up straight and began riding her faster than ever before as she arched her back and flipped her hair, playing with her own breasts as she sang;

"_Ima party, and party and party and part and part and party and party and party…"_

She bounced up and down like crazy, her words echoing the sentiment of the evening perfectly.

###

As the song closed and another thumping house beat began, Rosalie's finger, already back at its spot pressing deliciously down on her throbbing clit as Bella pumped into her, was beginning to send Bella's eyes back into her head. She twitched and writhed as she tried to fuck the blonde on top of her. But she couldn't help it; Bella felt herself getting very, very close…

"_Fuck Rose, I'm gonna cum…" _She whimpered as her body began to seize.

"_Well make it fast," Rosalie_ panted, dropping her body up and down on the fake cock with force as she continued to move hypnotically. _"Because I told you to fuck me, and I'm not even close to being done with you." _She pressed down on Bella's clit.

Bella screamed as her body flooded with adrenaline, coming hard. But despite her orgasm, she kept pace (or close to it), desperate to keep control and keep moving against the blonde.

"_Oh fuck Rosalie, fuck, what are you doing to me, FUCK!" _Bella babbled as she thrust up, absolutely mesmerized by the taller girl as Rosalie bucked and twisted in time with the new beat. She leaned forward, rolling her incredible body into Bella's as she suddenly kissed her feverishly. Bella's hands grabbed at her ass and drove her down. Rosalie slipped both of her hands behind Bella's back and directed her torso to roll with hers.

"_God Bella, for someone who can't dance, you sure catch on quick…" _Bella realized she didn't even need Rosalie's fingers on her clit; the base of the strap-on pressed down _hard_ each time Rosalie rocked into her, sending more and more incredible waves of heat through her. She kissed Rosalie fast and deep, thrusting her tongue against the blonde's hot muscle in time with her hips.

They rocked and bucked and Bella felt like she was flying again as Rosalie's skilled hands pulled them tightly together as she rolled their bodies up and down. _"Fuck me harder, Bella, I love what you do to me, you feel so fucking good, fuck me harder." _Rosalie moaned desperately as she rode her hard. Bella didn't know what this music was, but she loved it. She'd never felt like this before. Rosalie leaned back again and smoldered at her, catching her eyes and breathing, _"those fucking gorgeous brown eyes, Bella, your fucking brown eyes will be the death of me. I hate what you do to me…" _

"_What?" _Bella groaned as she continued her movements. Rosalie again ignored her, pushing Bella's knees back down and leaning back on the hands she'd placed flat behind her on the mattress. She arched her back deeply, giving Bella the best view yet as she watched Rosalie's deep pink, swollen folds clenching around her fake member. Her pussy was absolutely incredible to watch, and her body, every lithe, slender curve and contour on show, her breasts bouncing hypnotically; that body was driving her crazy. Rosalie continued to glower at her, and Bella watched eagerly as the blonde's exquisite pink-red lips parted again while she mouthed the words:

"_One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster, the bars are temples but the pearls ain't free; you'll find a god in every golden cloister, and if you're lucky then the god's a she; I can feel an angel sliding up to me..."_

"_Jesus Rosalie, how can you even be real, who makes someone feel this good?" _Bella's eyes were wild as she tried to absorb every single thing they caught. She loved when Rosalie sang to her, even if it was one random line from a throbbing house beat.

"_YOU make someone feel this good, Bella; you make ME feel this good. Oh god Bella, I love the way you fuck me, you're incredible…" _Rosalie could barely get the words out between moans. _"Oh shit, I'm getting so close, Bella tell me what this feels like..."_

"_Your pussy is so fucking tight, I can feel it pulling so hard on me every time I thrust into you. I've never seen anything look as fucking sexy as you look bouncing up and down on top of me. And if you don't lean down and let me suck your incredible tits soon, I'm going to take them by force…" _Bella was too high to be shocked by her own words. Their drug-fueled night was getting both girls to say things neither had heard from the other before.

Bella dragged Rosalie back down onto her and grabbed both of her breasts, kneading them and moaning as she pulled the nipples into her mouth and sucked deeply. Rosalie began to jerk erratically, her breathy moans coming so fast now that Bella thought she might be hyperventilating.

"_Oh fuck Bella, that's it, harder, harder, fuck me harder, you're so fucking sexy, fuck me harder, please, please fuck me…" _Bella pressed her feet into the bed and rammed into the blonde as she bit her left nipple, and was rewarded with a screamed _"FUCK" _from her as Rosalie suddenly collapsed on top of her. Bella didn't stop, pushing in and out and noticing how much slicker and faster she could suddenly go. Rosalie tried to meet her thrusts but couldn't. She bit Bella's neck again and began to suck hard, her back arching and collapsing and arching again as she slid up and down. _"Oh my God Bella, don't stop, don't stop…"_

"_I want you to come for me," Bella_ growled and then pulled a nipple back into her mouth, sucking so hard she knew she'd bruise the flesh.

"_I already did, but don't stop fucking me, oh God, don't stop Bella." _She jerked her body down and their lips crashed, Rosalie sucking desperately on the tongue that Bella had thrust into her hot mouth.

Bella fucked her to a second climax, and they finally lay still for a second, panting.

But then another beat picked up, and Rosalie, after catching her breath, got off of Bella and stood up. She reached out and pulled the brunette with her, crashing them into the wall and bracing her slender back against it. _"Bella, I love this shit, this is Benny Benassi, I want you to fuck me to it." _Bella eagerly assented, and positioned herself at Rosalie's tight hole. She grabbed at Rosalie's thigh to lift it for easier access, and gasped as Rosalie brought the leg straight up and onto Bella's shoulder. She didn't know _anyone_ could be that flexible.

"_Holy shit," Bella_ breathed. She fumbled with the fake cock, trying to get it in.

"_Bella, did I not tell you to fuck me?" _Rosalie let out a growl of her own, dangerously demanding and seductive. She angled her hips, and Bella, suddenly finding the right spot, responded to her sensual threat and penetrated her hard, pushing past her tight opening and deep inside of her. _"Oh my God," _Rosalie screamed. Bella could see the mix of pleasure and sudden pain in her features, even though her eyes were tightly shut.

"_Shit, that's so deep," Bella_ began, but couldn't finish her sentence as she felt familiar fingers back at her clit.

"_Oh God, it hurts but it's good, just fuck me, Bella, you're in so deep." _Bella was too aroused to worry about Rosalie's pain.

She fucked her against the wall, moving her abnormally flexible leg back and forth like a windshield wiper as she tried different positions, attempting to penetrate the panting blonde as deep as possible. The bass drove her body to newly found rhythm, and she fucked her with intensity she didn't know she had in her (and truthfully, wouldn't have had without the help of the cocaine) as Benny Benassi's "Born to Be Alive" reverberated through the small bedroom. _"Oh fuck Bella, I'm so glad the lights are on, I like to watch every inch of your incredible body while you're fucking me, you're so fucking sexy, Jesus Christ you're so gorgeous, please, please fuck me harder…"_

Rosalie's dirty talk only got dirtier as they collapsed back onto the bed after both hitting monster climaxes almost simultaneously. Another Benny Benassi song, "Satisfaction", drove through the speakers that Rosalie finally explained were hidden under Jasper's bed. She directed Bella through position after position as she rode and Bella thrust to the music. Bella found that everything that was playing seemed to be giving her some kind of strange power she'd never had. She'd never moved so easily before; she'd never been this good in bed. _"Jesus Rose, I can't believe this music, I've never been able to move like this."_

"_Oh God you better not stop, the way you're moving in and out of me is fucking insane." _

Bella didn't stop, but soon found herself panting _"Rosalie, is this the coke, why can I suddenly move like this?"_

Rosalie, back in her favorite position on top with her back against Bella's knees, leaned down and panted in her ear: _"No, it's not the coke, you've always moved like this with me to some degree. You've had it in you. You just needed a little help getting out of your own head. Because…" _She bit her lip as Bella rammed into her hard. Really hard. _"…Because you're incredible. I mean, you make me feel incredible, Bella. No one has ever made me feel like this."_

Even though Bella had fucked her in countless positions already, she couldn't understand why Rosalie wouldn't yet let her just be on top. Rosalie kept managing to twist or power her way out of being on her back, and this just made Bella want it all the more. But with each thrust, Rosalie was getting weaker and weaker. And as the song reached its peak, Bella began to drive into her mercilessly as she rolled them, finally forcing Rosalie over and onto her back.

The blonde suddenly tensed.

"_I NEVER let anyone fuck me like this Bella, I hate being on my back…" _She tried to protest, struggling.

"_Shhhh," Bella_ responded. _"I'll make you feel so good, Rosalie, don't worry, I won't hurt you, I'll make you feel so good, just let me fuck you like this…" _With that, she leaned in and latched onto Rosalie's slender, pale neck and sucked ferociously, earning a deep, guttural moan from her blonde.

"_No Bella, I don't like this, I need control…" _Bella ignored her.

"_Rosalie, you have control, you'll always have control, just relax…" _Bella couldn't slow down; she felt like she was completely at the mercy of the incredible power that coursed through her. But she was able to at least muster enough control to be able to kiss Rosalie tenderly for a moment, despite the intensity of her thrusts.

The kiss felt so good, and when Rosalie began to return it with equal intensity, kissing her back just as tenderly, Bella decided that this was the only way she wanted to kiss Rosalie for the rest of the night. Kissing her this way must have calmed Rosalie, because Bella could feel her begin to relax, and after a few minutes she allowed Bella to bring one leg over her shoulder as she continued to drive into Rosalie in time with the pounding beat. _"Rose," _Bella panted, parroting the blonde's earlier request of her. _"Tell me how I feel…" _ Rosalie didn't answer right away, eyes shut tightly as her hips met Bella's and she got more comfortable with being on her back. Bella began to pepper her face with kisses as she thrust in and out. She was surprised when Rosalie finally answered her.

"_Oh fuck Bella, Jesus my pussy feels so good around you, I never thought I could feel like this." _Bella sucked on a finger and brought it down to rub Rosalie's clit. The blonde gasped but let her. Bella knew that Rosalie was no longer as confident and seductive as she had been; instead, she was clinging to the brunette as she thrust into her. Bella continued to kiss her all over, and began to whisper _"you're so beautiful" _again and again.

The beat slowed to some trance version of the old Toto song "Africa," and Bella began to fuck her a little bit slower, but she had pushed her leg so far back that she was now hitting spots so deep inside the blonde that Bella was buried almost past the base of the strap-on.

###

"_Rose," _Bella panted as she moved in and out of her with the expertise she didn't know she had. _"Thank you for trusting me. I'm going to make you feel so good, I promise."_

"_You're already making me feel so good, Bella. Why did you have to hurt me like that?" _Rosalie's eyes looked suddenly vulnerable, and the second she realized that Bella had seen them, Rosalie pulled Bella's head into the pillows and sucked on her neck. Bella knew then that she wasn't referring to the pain of the fake cock.

"_I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry, Rosalie, I'm so, so sorry." _She breathed the words into her hair from her spot buried into the pillow, leaning back slightly and turning her head to pepper the soft skin behind Rosalie's ear with kisses as she rolled into her deep and slow. Rosalie said nothing, but didn't stop Bella from her slow, intentional thrusts.

"_I don't care Bella, I don't care," _came a muffled response from lips pressed to Bella's neck. _"Just make it right, please, make it right. Just keep fucking me…" _Bella could feel hot liquid against her skin and she knew it wasn't sweat. It was tears. She knew then that Rosalie was crying.

"_I'm not fucking you anymore, I'm making love to you. That's all I've ever want to do, Rose," _Bella breathed into her ear. _"All I've ever wanted was the chance to make love to you." _Bella began to sing along to the song:

"_Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you; there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do…"_

Bella felt delicate hands shift and grasp her lower back tightly as she moved in and out of her. The hot liquid burned the skin of her neck. She pulled back, now finally able to, as Rosalie no longer clung to her neck. She hovered over the blonde and watched the tears stream down her gorgeous flushed cheeks. She leaned down and kissed away each droplet. Rosalie wouldn't meet her eyes. _"Why are you crying, Rose?" _She whispered quietly.

"_It's nothing, Bella, it's just the drugs," _Rosalie whispered, her face turned and eyes fixed on the wall to her right. Bella pushed the blonde's leg that was resting on her shoulder down and reached out to pull Rosalie's face towards her.

"_That's bullshit," _Bella whispered, trying desperately to capture those liquid green eyes, now rimmed red and filled with tears. The mood of the evening had completely changed. Bella felt her heart swell. Rosalie pushed her cheek against Bella's hand, trying to fight her insistent gaze.

"_It's just that this song, the original I mean," _Rosalie sighed and finally looked up at Bella, expression more vulnerable and sad than Bella had ever seen. _"It used to be the song that someone would always sing to me, someone that meant a lot to me a long, long time ago. And one day, she was gone, and I was all alone. It just hurts, and having you sing it to me; it just makes me cry. I don't want you to hurt me anymore, Bella. Please don't hurt me…" _Bella kissed her tenderly; rubbing her tongue against the blonde's swollen lips as Rosalie reluctantly granted her entrance. Bella met her tongue purposefully, connecting once, then twice, and then she pulled away and gazed lovingly down at Rose, and began to again sing softly, this time almost whispering:

"_Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you; there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do…"_

"_Stop Bella," _Rosalie begged, sobbing slightly, beginning now to actually truly cry in front of her. Bella captured each salty tear gently, pushing into her at a tender, purposeful pace. It was Rosalie this time that connected their lips again, and kissed back when Bella again met her tongue and rubbed it in rhythm with the song. She gathered Rosalie up tightly in her arms and continued to kiss her lovingly, each tender press of her tongue timed to the beat of the music and her hips. She kissed her over and over again as she rolled into the teary blonde. When the song ended, Bella recognized the slower beat of the original "Africa" as its gentle rhythm echoed into the room. She whispered those same words to her again:

"_Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you; there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do; I felt some rains down in Africa; gonna take some time so do the things we never had…"_

"_Jesus," _Rosalie breathed.

"_Does Emmett have this song on repeat?" _Bella responded as she gazed upon the blonde with nothing but love in her dark eyes.

"_No, he plays the original when he wants the party to clear out…" _Rosalie cried harder, trying desperately again to look anywhere but up at Bella.

"_Shhh, Rose, let me look at you. I care so much about you, don't be afraid of me…" _Bella soothed, as Rosalie met her deep thrusts with her hips and whimpered between tears.

"_You don't know how afraid of you I truly am, Bella," _Rosalie whispered back. The notes of the original song rang through the room as Bella made love to her to the beat of the music.

"_Don't cry, Rosalie. I mean every word. It would take the whole world to keep me away from you. Just let me make love to you. Let me show you…" _Rosalie buried her face into Bella's neck again, sobbing.

###

They continued like that, Bella moving slowly in and out of her as the beautiful girl beneath her clutched her tightly, but she still let Bella make love to her long after the music stopped. Bella, as she drove in and out of her carefully, lovingly, watched in awe as Rosalie climaxed, tears still spilling from her gorgeous green eyes.

She was so completely, utterly in love with her. She wanted to spend every night for the rest of her life showing Rosalie just how much.

###

TBC

A/N: If you feel like it, download "Getting Over You" by David Guetta; "One Night in Bangkok" by the Vinylshakers, "Born to Be Alive" and then "Satisfaction" by Benny Benassi, "Afrika" by the Glitterboys, and then finally "Africa" by Toto, and then play them in that order. It will kind of give you the mood of the evening… The earlier songs, from when Rosalie was on top, were "Breathe on Me" by Britney Spears (don't laugh, that song is really, really sexy); "Besame Mucho" by Wawa (this sucker is probably pretty hard to find, I got it in St. Tropez like four years ago, but if you can find it, it's awesome); "Call Me" by Eric Prydz; and "Lady" by Modjo.

Again, I'm sure the flow of this chapter blew and I made a million mistakes, but I just wanted to get it written and out there. Sorry if it sucked, it's totally possible.

Thanks for all of your reviews.

Oh and sorry if I offended anyone with the smut, and also I guess I should say this chapter is by no means meant to encourage doing coke.


	20. Chapter 20

Ownership: Nothing but the story

A/N: Thanks to everyone for such awesome reviews – I cranked this out as fast as I could. No sex in this chapter unfortunately. And the reason I've kept the story in Bella's perspective for so long is that I thought that hearing Rosalie's view of things for these past few chapters might be a little redundant (hopefully it's been established at this point why she's doing the whole "push and pull" thing, and why she keeps being drawn to Bella despite her fears), because basically she'd just been wavering between being a predator and a pussy this whole time. Just kidding – she's not a pussy, but her feelings for Bella just continue to override her need for control and then don't, and then do, and yada yada yada. Same old same old. Thought it might be more interesting to see things through Bella's eyes (sort of – I know this isn't exactly a classic first person POV thing or whatever…)

Chapter 20

Bella's perspective:

###

Bella woke suddenly and shot straight up, completely startled. The room was bathed in nothing but blackness; it was without windows, not unlike her own, but this room was also without any sort of ambient light source – no clock radio, no phone charger, no something, _anything_ that emitted even a hint of brightness. Bella reached out blindly around her and felt only sheets and pillows.

Rosalie was gone.

Tears began to stream down her face, and she felt like her head was going to explode with pain from the hangover that suddenly crashed into her. _"Rosalie!" _She yelled, although she was sure it would do no good.

"_ROSE!" _Her voice was frantic, and she tried to figure out where the edge of the bed was in Jasper's black hole of a room so that she could at least feel her way to a wall and turn the lights on.

"_Goddammit, Rose!" _She yelled again. Rosalie was gone. Rose was really, really gone.

Suddenly, the door opened and dim light filled her eyes. _"Hey, it's okay, what's the matter?" _ A figure in the doorway spoke soothingly to her. In a voice that sent tell-tale tingles through her sore, hung over body.

"_Rose?"_

"_It's okay, I'm right here, sorry I just got up to brush my teeth…" _Rosalie kept the door open as she padded gracefully into the room, still completely nude. One look at the vision in front of her and all other thoughts abandoned her. She was gorgeous. Rosalie, reacting to the frightened look that had been plastered across her features, glided over and gathered Bella up in her arms. She pressed a kiss to her forehead. _"You okay?"_

"_Yes," _Bella breathed. _"I just thought you'd left…"_

"_At five in the morning?" _Rosalie smoothed her wild brown hair as Bella clung to her tightly. _"No, no, you only went to sleep like an hour and a half ago. I was having trouble falling asleep myself, so I just decided to get up and wash my face and brush my teeth and whatnot."_

"_I feel like an idiot…" _Bella muffled from her spot buried in Rosalie's chest.

"_No don't, it's like a fucking coffin in here, I don't know how he sleeps with it so dark, if you hadn't been all snuggled up into me protecting me from ghosts and stuff, I would have been freaked out too. I was actually looking for a spare nightlight in the medicine cabinet when I heard you yelling…"_

"_I was protecting you from ghosts?" _Bella looked up, unaware of how hauntingly beautiful her own liquid chocolate eyes appeared as they reflected the dim white light of the bathroom. Rosalie nodded 'yes.'

"_Damn right I was…" _Bella sighed, and then began to try to stand up.

"_Where are you going?" _Rosalie whispered.

"_To the bathroom, I want to brush my teeth too. I don't have to go home yet, do I?"_

"_No, no," _Rosalie smiled as she whispered back, but Bella noticed that she was rubbing her own forehead in pain. _"Jasper text me literally ten minutes ago that he and Alice were finally going to sleep over in her room. And before you say anything, don't worry, Alice doesn't know you're here. Jasper does, but just relax, he'd never say anything, he doesn't want to hurt me. And…" _She pressed another kiss to Bella's forehead and helped her up off the bed. _"…he doesn't want Emmett to hurt him, so please don't freak out, okay?"_

"_Okay." _If Bella's head hadn't hurt so much, she would have laughed. She was so far past the point of freaking out about that right now; she was just freaked out that Rosalie wasn't going to be there when she woke up again.

Rosalie held her steady as she walked her to the bathroom. Bella noticed that the blonde wasn't too steady herself. But that might have been because Bella was basically walking backwards, refusing to let go of Rosalie and keeping her in an embrace as Rosalie guided her to the sink.

"_Do you want to just step on my feet so I can walk for both of us?" _Rosalie chuckled a bit as she whispered in Bella's ear.

"_Sorry, I just think it's a better idea if I hold onto you," _Bella whispered back, giggling. _"Because for one, I really like pressing up against your hot, naked, porno body…"_

"_Hey!" _Rosalie whispered-yelled as she swatted her lightly on the rear. _"My boobs are not that big, I'm not even a C, that's so rude!" _Bella let Rosalie press her back against the edge of the sink as she buried her face in Rosalie's breasts and made motorboat noises. Rosalie started to giggle loudly.

"_Cut it out, that tickles, no motorboating!" _Bella just giggled and grabbed each side of her breasts, smushing them against her cheeks as she continued.

And then suddenly groaned as pain shot through her head and down into her body like a samurai sword.

"_Oh no Bella, don't stop," _Rosalie teased. _"I was just getting into it! What's the matter, your little head hurt all of a sudden?" _Bella groaned some more and grabbed Rosalie's wrists as she collapsed into her body. The pain in her head was intense. Rosalie leaned down and whispered in her ear _"Yeah, that's what happens when you get all frisky and try to motorboat someone at five in the morning…come on, let's get your face washed and get back into bed."_

"_Ow, ow, Rosie, owwww, ow ow ow owwww!" _Bella moaned, now into her neck. _"Rosie make it stop, it hurts! Can I have medicine? Please please please?"_

"_Not yet, we've put enough in our systems for a while, this is called punishment for doing too much blow, little one…" _Rosalie hugged her affectionately and then turned her around so she faced the sink, back pressed into her to keep her standing upright and arms wrapped around her waist. Bella was grateful for her presence because she really felt like she might collapse any moment.

Rosalie let her borrow her toothbrush, reaching under Bella's slender arms to squirt some toothpaste onto it and then resting her chin on Bella's shoulder as she supervised her work. Even with the tremendous pain pulsing through her head, Bella still sighed and shivered a bit as she watched their joint reflection in the mirror. Even hung-over, Rosalie looked so lovely; messy blonde hair loosely pulled back with missed pieces tucked behind her ears; her beautiful, make-up free face and otherworldly green eyes watching Bella's hands intently as she brushed; arms wrapped around Bella's mid-section lovingly; lips pressing occasional kisses to the nape of her neck. Bella fit into her perfectly, she thought, and she purposefully brushed her teeth for longer than she could ever remember doing it before, luxuriating in the both feel of Rosalie's toned body pressed into her own and the reflection of the two of them in the mirror.

"_I want you to hold me like this every day while I'm brushing my teeth from now on, Rosalie, okay?" _Rosalie chuckled at Bella's whispered request, slightly garbled by a mouth full of toothpaste, and pressed still swollen lips to the soft skin behind her ear.

"_Logistically that might be a little tricky, Bella…"_

"_Please?" _Bella whisper-whined. _"I won't stop brushing until you agree, and it's already been like three minutes…"_

"_I know, your commitment to dental hygiene is admirable, beautiful girl." _Bella just glared at her in the mirror, narrowing her eyes and trying to look as fierce as her pounding head would allow, while taking her free hand and digging her nails into Rosalie's arm. _"Ow, ow, okay, okay, I'll try, okay?" _Bella smiled in triumph. Rosalie rolled her eyes, still chuckling, and kissed the shell of Bella's ear gently before whispering, _"god Thumper, you are one mean little baby bunny…"_

Bella quickly rinsed her mouth as she giggled back _"shut up Rose, you're lucky I'm so gentle with you" _and tried to stifle a yawn.

"_I think you're the lucky one, since I'm going to let your little 'Rosie' comment slide, Thumper."_

"_No way," _Bella whispered back. _"You want to call me 'Thumper', then I SO get to call you 'Rosie.' An eye for an eye…"_

"_Bella," _Rosalie whisper-teased as she somehow mustered enough strength to lift the small, hung-over brunette up and began to carry her back to the bedroom, tossing a spare nightlight onto Bella's bare stomach as she maneuvered them through the bathroom doorway. _"You know Gandhi once said 'an eye for an eye and the world will go blind…"_

"_Gandhi was a pussy, Rose…" _Rosalie threw her head back in laughter and pulled one of Bella's hands up to cover her mouth so she wouldn't wake the whole apartment. She placed her down on the bed and then handed Bella her iPhone, fully charged.

"_I put it on my charger when I went into my room way earlier tonight to get um, you know…" _Rosalie smiled at her sweetly as she bent down and plugged the nightlight into an outlet by the door. _"Sorry, I would move us to my room but my friend Tommy showed up at like four in the morning and passed out in my bed…"_

"_You let someone sleep in your bed? Man you must still be really fucked up right now Rose…" _Bella teased her, but the meaning behind her words was serious.

"_No, I'm not, Tommy is one of only two exceptions to my 'no touching my bed' rule. You're the other one, in case you were wondering. I'd let Emmett sleep there too except I know he'd bring girls in with him and then play dumb about it. Tommy's my best friend from growing up…" _Rosalie suddenly trailed off. Bella noticed she always did this when she began to reveal something personal about herself. Instead of continuing, Rosalie just shut the door to the room and hopped up on the bed. Bella noticed that, as Rosalie pulled it up over the two of them and pulled Bella into her, somehow Jasper's cheap blanket had been mysteriously replaced by a fluffy feather duvet in a crisp cotton cover.

"_Rosalie, do cheap sheets just suddenly change into expensive linens around you, is that your magic power?" _Bella whispered this to the blonde teasingly as she snuggled into her, pressing her back against Rosalie's front and pulling the taller girl's strong, lean arms around her waist. She grasped at Rosalie's hands and laced their fingers together.

"_Very funny. It's my spare duvet, I grabbed it from the linen closet while you were asleep, synthetic sheets give me a rash…"_

"_Liar."_

"_Whatever, they give me a mental rash, okay? And I sure as hell don't want you sleeping under them, you're my guest for Christssake." _Bella smiled to herself and pressed back even tighter into her blonde. Rosalie responded by draping one leg over her, and curling the other one so that it was fully flush against Bella's.

"_You take such good care of me, Rosie," _Bella murmured, but a slight smirk sat on her face. _"And I love when you spoon me." _Bella knew how much Rosalie hated that term, and she'd spent the past month teasing her about it and begging to be 'spooned' every time they were alone together as they went to sleep.

"_Ugh," _Rosalie groaned as she pulled a hand out of Bella's grasp to tuck the girl's soft brown locks under her head and out of her face. Bella grabbed the hand and yanked it back. _"Chill Thumper, I was just getting your hair out of my mouth…" _Bella dug those evil little nails into Rosalie's hand again.

"_Say it," _she growled threateningly. This was another game she loved to play with Rose; trying to torture her even though she knew Rosalie only pretended that it hurt, until Rosalie would acquiesce and say something about liking to spoon her too. Bella knew Rosalie got a kick out of her little games, because the strong-willed blonde would never play along if she didn't.

"_Ow Thumper, no!" _Rosalie squirmed and squeezed her tighter. Bella sighed; she just wanted Rosalie to completely swallow her up sometimes. She felt like she just couldn't possibly get enough contact with her any other way. She scratched her nails deep into Rosalie's hand.

"_Fine Thumper, fine, God you're such a bully…" _Bella giggled and twisted her head back, cueing Rosalie to lift her own head slightly so that Bella could look her gorgeous blonde in the eye. Rosalie smiled at Bella's forced pout, and leaned down to meet her lips. She kissed Bella softly, but didn't pull away immediately. Bella rubbed the hands that she held with her thumbs as she kissed her back and traced a warm tongue across swollen lips. Rosalie allowed her entrance, and shifted so that she could give Bella better access without making her contort her neck uncomfortably.

Bella exhaled softly as she felt their tongues connect, and they kissed each other slowly and gently, tongues rubbing together lovingly for a few strokes before Rosalie broke away and lay back down on her side, using her powerful body to cuddle Bella into her tightly. Bella again laced her delicate fingers through Rosalie's and pressed herself back against the blonde. Just like when Rosalie had held her from behind as they stood in front of the sink, when Rosalie held her like this, they fit together perfectly. Bella thought it was as if they were made specifically for each other and no one else.

But she still hissed, _"don't think kissing me like that is going to get you out of this, say it you sneaky little blonde minx or I'll be forced to dig my razor-sharp talons into your perfect little paws again…" _Rosalie chuckled from behind her and grumbled in her ear:

"_Fine, fine," _She sighed theatrically, sending shivers down Bella's spine. _"I love spooning you…" _Bella giggled at her tone and the faux south Florida accent Rosalie had just adopted. _"Spooning up just like lil' baby cats, Thumpah..." _

"_Thank you, Rosie," _Bella teased.

"_Ugh I hate that nickname," _Rosalie groaned, back to her normal, cool tone. _Her voice is sexy as hell,_ Bella mused. _"Now close your eyes, beautiful girl, you need to sleep…" _The icy but somehow still warm voice murmured.

"_God your voice is sexy as hell," _Bella murmured.

"_Thank you," _Rosalie crooned back, and Bella felt the blonde's lips rest on the sensitive spot at the apex of her neck and jaw, rubbing against it softly before stilling. _"Thank you for being so sweet with me tonight…" _Rosalie whispered so low that Bella just barely heard her.

Before she could respond, she felt gentle, even breaths on her cheek.

She tucked Rosalie's hands even further into her own chest and held them tightly as she slowly let herself drift off again.

###

The next time Bella woke up, she knew instantly that this time she truly was alone. Her eyes were drawn immediately to the soft blue glow of a clock/radio that had magically appeared on the bedside table. She heard the familiar buzz of her iPhone as it notified her of awaiting messages, but she ignored it. It was 1:14pm. She'd been asleep for eight hours in Jasper's room.

She listened for signs of life outside its doors as she turned on the lamp that she'd finally noticed affixed to the wall behind the small black bedside table. There was a note on heavy cream stationary, written in perfect cursive penmanship, sitting underneath her phone, and she snatched it up.

_Bella,_

_Left for Vermont – unexpected family business with the house. Sorry to leave you by yourself in the room, but I didn't want to wake you. Emmett and Jasper are both gone for the day, so don't worry about running into anyone on your way out. There's a white pill by the glass of water on the nightstand. It's a Vicoprofin, and it will help with your headache. _

_Be back on Thursday night. You might want to check your phone when you wake up – you've been getting text messages non-stop all morning._

_PS: Left something in your room – used my keys to get in._

Bella quickly popped and swallowed the pill with the tall glass of water Rosalie had so graciously left for her, then grabbed her iPhone and turned on the screen.

Her heart nearly stopped beating as she read the first text message that popped up. It was from Edward:

EDWARD SMS: CAN'T WAIT TO SPEND THE DAY WITH YOU. HOPE YOU'RE FEELING BETTER. JUST RAN A 5K. KNOWING THAT YOU LOVE ME MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING. I'LL PICK YOU UP AT…

She had to open up the actual SMS application to review the full message. It was just a continuation of some stupid drabble about when he would be by her apartment. She realized that she'd forgotten to cancel their Sunday plans…

Bells felt like she was going to throw up. With iPhones, an incoming text message just pops up on the screen every time it's received. One doesn't even need to unlock the phone to read it; they just have to be in the general visual vicinity of the damn thing. She knew Rosalie had seen the message. _Although it's not like she cares… _But Bella had a hard time believing herself. Deep down she knew that Rosalie cared. If there was any chance Rosalie had been awake before her (and there was clearly an 100% chance of this), she surely would have seen Edward's messages. He'd started sending them at 9 o'clock, and Bella knew by now that four hours was about as long as Rosalie ever slept. _And we went to bed at 5. Fuck me…_

She reviewed the rest of Edward's messages, all of which the gorgeous blonde could have seen, as Bella's phone had sat face up on the table the entire time, not inches from where Rosalie slept on the right side of the bed.

EDWARD SMS: THINKING WE COULD GO RING SHOPPING TODAY. YOUR SISTER SAID YOU MIGHT WANT TO…

And

EDWARD SMS: SO LOOKING FORWARD TO SPENDING A SUNDAY TOGETHER. I'VE MISSED THIS…

_I am so fucked…_

Her thoughts were correct. Bella was so fucked.

###

Bella threw on her clothes and snuck out of Rosalie's apartment, her head swimming with thoughts of how badly she'd messed everything up. _God please let her have not seen these, please please please. _For all of her self-talk about how Rosalie didn't care, and how much she'd wanted her to actually give a shit, now, when the moment was potentially upon her, she found that she didn't want Rosalie to care at all. Because she didn't want Rosalie to know at all. _I am so fucked... _

She cringed as she felt tears fill her eyes while she played with the stubborn lock on the front door of her own apartment. She hated how easily she cried. She'd already text Rosalie three times while still in the bedroom – just banal things like _'where'd you go' _and _'I miss my Rosie' – _she hadn't yet crafted what on earth to say to explain Edward's messages. If Rosalie had even seen them at all. Which, of course, she had, but what if she hadn't, and then Bella's messages would accomplish the same thing as Edward's probably already had.

Granted it had only been ten minutes, but Rosalie hadn't yet responded to any of her texts.

The tears in her eyes quickly morphed into full-fledged sobs when she walked into her bedroom. There, sitting delicately on her own bedside table, was a small sterling silver nut bowl filled with the white stones they'd collected on the beach. The silver bowl that had been engraved with Rosalie's monogram and the date of her birth. The bowl that Bella had embarrassed herself by asking for, and Rosalie had clearly pretended not to want to give her. She knew how Rosalie operated by now. She knew that the gorgeous blonde had lied and secretly grabbed the second bowl to surprise her with it later on.

She clutched the bowl in her lap, letting her fingers trail through the beautiful quartz stones, each one of them tiny tokens of remembrance of what had been the greatest, happiest weekend of her entire life.

And she wept.

###

She heard nothing from Rosalie for the next two days. On Tuesday evening, Emmett curtly informed her that Rosalie's iPhone had broken and she wanted him to tell her that she'd be back in touch on Thursday.

Bella spent every day leading up to Thursday on the verge of throwing up.

###

She awoke on Thursday morning with a start, and her brain immediately came alive, running through what she might possibly say or do to apologize to Rose, or explain those unexplainable text messages from Edward somehow away.

But instead of continued sorrow and fear, sheer joy coursed through her as she opened up her phone and saw:

ROSALIE SMS: THUMPER, I'M HOME TONIGHT, CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MY BEAUTIFUL, EVIL BABY BUNNY

She text back immediately:

BELLA SMS: I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH. WILL BE HELD HOSTAGE AT DORIAN'S TONIGHT – IT'S LEAH'S 31ST BIRTHDAY. CAN YOU PLEASE COME BY TO RESCUE ME? IT'S GOING TO SUCK WITHOUT YOU.

Her joy increased triple-fold when Rosalie text back right away:

ROSALIE SMS: SURE, EM AND I WILL BRING THE PARTY. WHAT TIME?

She barely thought before she typed:

BELLA SMS: 8PM. I'VE MISSED YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH IT'S CRAZY. I'VE BEEN IN HELL WITHOUT YOU

Rosalie never responded.

###

At 9:00pm, Bella tapped her foot against the banquette, feeling incredibly frustrated and scared. Rosalie wasn't coming; she just knew it. She'd been stuck with Leah and seven of her friends for the last hour, and Rosalie hadn't yet shown up. Alice, usually her saving grace at these types of things, had been unable to make it because of some work function. Bella had text messaged Rosalie three times, but decided to hold off sending any more. She knew how desperate she already looked.

Leah laughed in her face as Bella yanked her phone off the edge of the bar as soon as she heard the tell-tale ding.

ROSALIE SMS: SORRY, GOT HELD UP AT A BOARD MEETING. EMMETT AND I NEED TO KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WITH YOU.

Bella responded immediately:

BELLA SMS: 9 INCLUDING ME. HURRY, LEAH IS IN RARE FORM TONIGHT.

Rosalie didn't write back, but not fifteen minutes later a hush fell over the bar as two incredibly good looking people sauntered into the bar's back room.

Bella's face erupted into a relieved smile. Rosalie shrugged off a black cashmere trench coat as she greeted the two bouncers that manned the entrance to the bar's famous back dance room, where Leah's birthday minions were currently holding court in a booth. She had on a low black v-neck tee with cap sleeves, a pair of grey skinny jeans that clung to her insane, endlessly long legs like leggings, and much to Bella's surprise, a pair of faded, extremely worn black high-top chucks. Her shiny blonde hair was back in its usual, haphazard ponytail, and her makeup - just the tiniest hint of amethyst, rimmed smoky to make her green eyes look preternaturally bright, and pink glossed lips – was perfect. Bella choked on her drink. Rosalie had literally taken her breath away. Her brother looked almost, although not equally, as good, in a dark navy scoopneck tee that showed off his incredible build, skinny (although not skin-tight like his sister's) dark jeans of his own, and a pair of equally well-worn, faded high-top chucks, but in red instead of black.

They looked like disgustingly gorgeous, ultra-chic twins from hell.

Rosalie and Emmett both hugged the bouncers with gusto, clearly knowing them extremely well, and graciously accepted complimentary drinks from a man Bella recognized to be the owner of the preppy stronghold. Bella's eyes stayed glued to Rosalie as the stunning blonde scanned the room.

Her icy features lit up when she caught sight of Bella, and she gave her the sexiest, most alluring smirk Bella had ever seen. Again, she felt like she was going to throw up. Bella was so awestruck that she didn't notice the small red box in the blonde's hand until Rosalie winked at her and ambled with her brother directly over to Leah, making an appropriate fuss as Rosalie handed her the finely wrapped box and Emmett presented her with a gorgeous spray of white flowers.

"_Happy birthday," _the two siblings cheered heartily as they made a fuss over her, Emmett grabbing her in a bear hug, and then Rosalie following with a decidedly more delicate embrace. Bella giggled as Rosalie caught her attention mid hug and rolled her eyes theatrically.

"_Holy fucking shit, Cartier?" _Leah screamed, _as embarrassingly as ever, _Bella mused as her bulky, somewhat brash sister tore into the box and yanked out a tiny silver ring on a red silk cord. _"Oh my God, you got me one of these bracelets, holy fucking shit!" _Leah squealed as she jumped up and down. Bella's heart melted a bit as she watched Rosalie smile warmly at her and tell her that she deserved it on her special day.

Even though she knew how little the blonde actually cared for her sister, Bella really did appreciated how sincerely interested she was in making Leah happy in that moment, grinning her thousand watt smile as she helped Leah maneuver the red-corded bracelet onto a bulky wrist. All of Leah's minions had swarmed around them, and Bella, still sitting in the booth, remained very much out of the fray.

Her breath caught as Rosalie suddenly whipped around in her direction, fixing her neon, liquid greens directly on Bella and beckoning her over with one of those curved, elegant fingers of hers.

"_Hey you, you planning on saying hello to me at some point?" _She called out, and then spread her arms wide, gesturing for Bella to come hug her. Bella got up; trying to straighten what she thought was an embarrassingly frumpy pair of grey work pants and a blue button down shirt before she walked over. _"Don't bother, I'm just going to mess them up again for you…" _Rosalie teased, fully aware that Leah and her cronies could hear her. Bella blushed and ran over.

Rosalie pulled her into a tight embrace and, after quickly looking back at the group to make sure no one could see (and they couldn't, as every girl was fully focused on Emmett as he flirted and joked with them), quickly leaned in, her lips brushing Bella's softly, sending heat straight to her core.

"_Miss me?"_

"_Nope, not at all..." _Bella smiled back, her voice laced with sarcasm. _"I've been having SO much fun…"_

"_Well, not to worry, your entertainment for the night is here, Emmett and I have a plan…"_

"_Oh really?"_

"_Yup," _Rosalie popped her 'p' and smiled impishly. _"Just you watch…" _She wrapped a toned arm around Bella's waist and guided her into the circle of girls that surrounded her brother.

"_Hey Emmy, did you give Leah her most special present yet?" _Rosalie questioned with a raised eyebrow, voice filled with mirth.

"_Ooh I get more?" _Leah squealed again, sounding an awful lot like Miss Piggy to Bella. Emmett pulled a small plastic baggy filled with blue pills out of his back pocket and waved them in front of Leah. Bella watched Leah and her friends shriek and clap.

"_What are those?" _Bella leaned up and whispered in Rosalie's ear. Rosalie turned, placing a hand on either side of Bella's waist and leaning in so close that their breasts pressed against each other, dragging her lips almost imperceptivity lightly along Bella's ear lobe as she began: _"Ecstasy. Really strong, super good ecstasy." _Bella pulled back and looked at her suspiciously, with a bit of doubt and slight fear in her eyes.

Rosalie just chuckled and resumed her position at Bella's ear, rubbing her sides lightly with electric fingers as she continued: _"No silly, not for us, I think we've had enough fun with the controlled substances for a while, don't you?" _

Bella turned her head, bringing them even closer so that she could whisper back in Rosalie's ear _"so tell me why you're excited then," _holding Rosalie's wrists as the blonde traced circles on her sides.

"_Because in about twenty five minutes your sister and her little hangers-on will be so out of it that I can finally make out with you without anyone noticing…" _She pulled back and grinned even wider when she noticed the wide smile that had suddenly spread across Bella's tempting pink lips. _"In the meantime, you can watch the ultra-talented Hale children tear up the dance floor…"_

"_Pretty confident in those dancing abilities, huh?" _Bella teased and poked Rosalie in the side, earning a small, flirtatious yelp from the blonde. Feeling her sister's eyes suddenly upon her, Bella pulled back.

"_Bella, where's Edward, did you not invite him?" _Leah yelled in a whine, her motives so obvious it was nauseating.

Rosalie, not surprisingly, flitted off, grabbing her brother by the hand and sauntered over to the DJ booth. _Fuck, fuck fuck, _Bella groaned. She was so stuck – she couldn't bitch out her sister without raising suspicion, and she had no idea what to say to Rosalie. _Fuck my life._

_###_

"_LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, THIS NEXT SONG IS DEDICATE TO THE BEAUTIFUL BIRTHDAY GIRL TO YOUR LEFT, THE VERY WILD MISS LEAH SWAN, FROM TWO OF DORIAN'S OLDEST FRIENDS AND WINNERS OF OUR ANNUAL DANCE COMPETITION FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS RUNNING, EMMETT AND ROSALIE HALE!" _

Bella wasn't sure if the crowd cheered so loudly in response to the DJ because they were simply drunk and excited, because it almost seemed as if many of them actually recognized the last two names. The cheering only got wilder as Rosalie, looking as incredible as ever, and her brother Emmett, suddenly wearing the DJ's ridiculous trucker hat, headed to the center of the packed dance floor as Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" began to blast through the speakers.

Bella stood up on the seat of the booth to get a better a view (along with most of Leah's friends), and was now extremely doubtful that the cheers were simply a result of alcohol as she watched the massive throng of drunken dancers purposely clear a large space for the two siblings. Screams broke out as Emmett suddenly dropped to the ground and fell into some kind of windmill move like Bella had seen in those street performances by the fountain outside the Plaza. Emmett flipped his hat up mid-spin, and Rosalie caught it, dropping it expertly down her back and tossing it under her legs and back to him as he popped up.

And then the shrieks and screams of the crowd reached a level of noise that could only be described as deafening. Rosalie Hale had just dropped down into the worm, and after a few other crazy twists and turns, began spinning on her head. Literally.

_Jesus Christ, she can fucking break-dance, too?_

Bella watched, as transfixed as the rest of the room, as Emmett and Rosalie ran through an insane, body-contorting break dance routine, ending in an incredible move where they both fell backwards into what Bella could only describe as a reverse worm, somehow rocking across the floor on their backs.

People erupted into screams, and mobbed the floor as the two golden children popped up and ran over to Leah's group. Emmett snatched up the best-looking of Leah's minions and began to dance with her, and Bella felt another wave of vomit surge into her throat as Rosalie, all pearly white, brilliant smile and shining hair, shook her golden mane out quickly and then grabbed her sister Leah.

Bella felt absolutely sickened as they began to move. The vomit would have risen even if Leah hadn't danced back, but unfortunately, Bella now had the pleasure of watching her sister (surprisingly always the better dancer of the two, despite her size) press herself tightly against _her_ Rosalie and grind seductively. Bella literally looked for a safe place to toss up her vodka tonics as she watched Rosalie laugh and smile seductively as Leah danced on her in a way that would have surely gotten Bella excommunicated from their same family.

###

Bella ran for the bathroom, yanking the door open and darting to the sink. She bent down and splashed cool water on her face, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a slender hand on the back of her neck. _"Are you alright?" _Rosalie crooned as she rubbed the soft skin at her hairline and tingles shot down Bella's spine from the contact point.

"_Yeah, I'm fine," _Bella lied. _"How the fuck did you learn to dance like that?"_

"_We grew up in New York in the eighties. Everyone was doing it then." _Rosalie chuckled as she grabbed a paper towel and wet it, running the damp material over Bella's brow. _"Plus, one of the doormen in our building was like, an expert, and he used to mess around with us sometimes. So during the summers in Maine, we'd practice our skills to try to impress him. You should have seen how cute Emmett was as this little tow-headed five-year old spinning around all over the place…" _She smiled sweetly at Bella in the mirror. _"Think you're okay to come back out?"_

Bella was, of course, absolutely okay to rejoin the group now that Rosalie's attention was back on her, and she nodded accordingly. _"You know Bella," _Rosalie purred. _"Emmett and I usually do that little routine to the Humpy Dance, but Emmett made me to play nice and pick something else since he knew I'd try to sing the 'hey yo fat girl, c'mere are you ticklish' line to the birthday girl…" _Bella giggled and pulled Rosalie into an embrace.

"_You're a horrible, horrible girl, Rosalie Hale…"_

Rosalie winked at her. _"T-Minus fifteen minutes until your sister is rolling so hard that you'll have no excuse but to dance with me…" _She smirked seductively as she pulled the hem of her own shirt up and wiped Bella's face dry. Bella gulped as she was given a perfect, close-up view of Rosalie's tight, toned mid-section and gorgeous full breasts, held only by a see-through, neon green mesh bra.

"_I can't dance, Rosalie, you know that…" _Bella protested as she found her breath. Rosalie suddenly pulled her incredibly close, pushing her up against the sink as she drove her thigh into Bella's core and licked the shell of her ear.

"_There's no way," _she began in that wickedly low purr of hers. _"That you can fuck me as amazingly as you do and even pretend to claim that…" _Bella's stomach did a full barrel roll. She grabbed Rosalie's face in her hands and smashed their lips together, but just as Rosalie began to kiss her back, the door flew open. Rosalie pulled away and smoldered at her as she led Bella out of the bathroom by the hand.

###

Fifteen minutes later, Bella's sister and her friends were, as promised, rolling completely out of their minds. Leah was grinding on what looked to be one of the busboys from the front of the restaurant, and she showed no hesitation in encouraging the young man to continue eagerly working her breasts under her shirt.

Leah's birthday party had quickly descended into chaos, and Bella could not have been happier.

She almost went over and pulled one of Leah's particularly bitchy friends, Erin, off of the chair she was literally humping, but then a familiar purr in her ear interjected with _"let her fuck the chair in peace, Bella." _Bella swung around and jumped on the blonde, wrapping her legs around her.

"_But it's a chair, Rosalie," _she giggled as she attacked her neck with kisses. _"It's a fucking chair!"_

"_Who are we to judge who she can and can't love, Bella," _Rosalie teased as she swung the smaller girl around playfully. _"They might have a lot in common for all you know. Actually, they're both pretty much at the same level in terms of conversational skills…"_

###

True to her word, Rosalie spent the next three hours making Bella dance with her, at first guiding her movements, until Bella finally got over her own insecurities and realized that she could actually dance quite well. Or she could _grind_ quite well, at least. When eighties songs came on, she let Rosalie lead her expertly through spins and dips, and found that the agile blonde was actually quite easy to follow. And as the hours passed and the music got sexier, Bella danced better and better.

As Rosalie sang along to a T.I. song, purring something about _"late night sex so wet, it's so tight" _and "_I want'cho body, I need yo body" _in her ear as she licked the shell, Bella slipped her leg in between Rosalie's slender thighs and began to thrust aggressively into her in time with the bass. Rosalie tugged on her lower lip and Bella, after taking one last glance to make sure the coast was clear, slipped an eager, wet tongue into her mouth and began making out with her passionately.

Rosalie was the physical embodiment of sex as she moved to the music, guiding and grinding Bella into moves and rhythms that she, once again, never knew she could be capable of following, much less initiating. They kissed and groped and ground on each other for hours as Rosalie purred random lyrics into her ears between hot breaths. If she hadn't truly grasped it before, Bella now completely understood why so many people were always throwing themselves at Rosalie. A few hours on the dance floor with the blonde vixen and Bella was completely at her mercy. She was incredibly, deliciously, wickedly seductive. Her smile was a maddening combination of sugary goodness and nerve-wracking malevolence that rendered Bella completely helpless. _"You're in full effect tonight, aren't you?" _Bella had breathed into her ear at about two in the morning, unaware at that point just how much time had passed.

"_And you love it," _Rosalie growled back, eyes dark and lusty. _"Let's get the fuck out of here…"_

###

Their walk home, only about a block and a half, was a full-on repeat of Coney Island. Rosalie seemed to lose some of her seductive control as she succumbed to her intense desire for the smaller brunette, and Bella could feel her giving in as she let Bella throw her up against cars and trees, and ledges, returning Bella's desperate, merciless kisses with equal passion. She didn't even bother to swat Bella's hand away as it inched up her shirt, farther and farther with each stop the made. She seemed as wild to get Bella's clothes off as Bella was to remove hers, and Bella noticed that the blonde's hands were actually shaking as Rosalie fumbled to get the key into the lock of their building when they finally made it to the front door.

"_Fuck, hold my phone," _Rosalie pleaded as she fought to get the door open. Bella took her iPhone, and couldn't help but look when it vibrated and a message popped up on the screen. Rosalie was so focused on the stupid door that Bella figured she wouldn't notice if she took a peek, and it wasn't like she had to open the phone or anything.

Her own hands began to shake as she read the words on the screen:

JACOB BLACK SMS: CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW GORGEOUS, GLAD TO FINALLY BE THE ONE TEACHING YOU A THING OR TWO. COME PREPARED…

It was in that moment that Bella legitimately lost her mind.

##

"_What the fuck is this?" _Bella screamed as she wrenched the keys from Rosalie's hands and flicked the lock, forcing the door open. Rosalie's mouth hung open as Bella shoved the phone in her face._ "I just read your little text from that fucking quarterback about how much he's looking forward to tomorrow night. What the FUCK are you doing with him?"_

Rosalie recovered quickly, the look of initial shock on her face turning quickly into a cold glare.

"_You don't get to ask me that, Bella. You don't get to be jealous of me."_ Her voice was pure ice. She loped over to her door and quickly unlocked it, storming into her apartment. Bella followed close on her heels.

"_I knew you were lying to me, I knew you were FUCKING lying to me, I knew you fucked him," _Bella shouted, not caring who heard.

"_Shut up, Jasper and Emmett are probably asleep, we are NOT doing this in here." _Rosalie hissed. Her voice was still ice cold, but her tone now was cutting; nasty. Bella stomped after her into the backyard, noticing that Emmett's bed was empty as she barged through his room - he must have still been at the bar.

"_How could you fuck him? I knew you were lying to me. You fucked him. Just like you fuck EVERYBODY," _Bella screamed again.

"_Don't you dare talk to me that way," _Rosalie spat.

"_Don't talk to YOU that way?" _Bella snarled back. _"YOU? You're the one that lied to me and YOU'RE the one that fucked him. How could you do this to me?" _

A wave of hurt washed over Rosalie's features. _"I didn't do anything to you, Bella, how could you – you know what, I'm not doing this with you."_ And just like that, the hurt was replaced by her frightening, steely glare.

"_Why Rose, because I figured you out? Is this what you do, tell people all this shit, work your little magic on them, make them feel like they're special, like they're the only ones, while you secretly fuck other people behind their backs? Is that it?" _Bella's voice was venomous.

"_No, is that what YOU do, Bella?" _Rosalie's tone was suddenly dead. Bella thought she almost detected sadness. A tiny voice in her head told her to stop this argument, that maybe she was making a mistake, but it was overpowered by an almost literal green monster that urged her on.

"_Don't play your little word games with me, Rosalie, answer the question. What happened to me being the only person you ever wanted to bring to the Hamptons? Did you tell Jacob that too? Is that your line? God, no wonder you never tell me what you do during the day, because it's probably more like WHO you do, isn't it?"_

"_I can't believe you actually think you can talk to me like this. Can you even hear yourself? How could I do this to you? You don't even know if I'm actually doing anything! How about, how could you do this to me? Did you think it wouldn't hurt me? I bet you don't even know what I'm talking about, do you? God, I can't believe I used to think you were different. I let myself CARE about you. I actually thought you were worth it." _Rosalie's voice was low but a hundred times more venomous that Bella's could ever be.

"_Oh right, because you liking me makes complete logical sense. We're like, in exactly the same league, you don't have a million other people that are about a thousand times more 'worth it' than me, right?" _Bella spat her words sarcastically.

"_Yeah me liking you did make complete logical sense, actually. You're killing me right now, why are you doing this to me? Are you TRYING to hurt me? Yes Bella, guess what, you actually are the only person I've met in the last 15 years that I actually did think was 'worth it.'" _Rosalie's voice now was dangerously even.

"_Oh yeah, I was 'worth it?' How did you figure, I can't wait to hear this." _Bella snarked at her, cheeks burning red, swollen lips practically spitting fire.

"_Why, oh I don't know, except for the fact that you're wildly insecure and an irrationally jealous, possessive complete HYPOCRITE that clearly doesn't think I'm worth much, you just happen to be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and you're interesting and funny and you make me laugh and you're clever and kind and like, utterly fucking lovely and I'm so turned on by you it's embarrassing and you actually MAKE me happy. And it's not like I haven't told you that, so why exactly are you being so nasty and acting like I'm lying to you or something?" _Again, Rosalie used a frighteningly low voice, with a tone that was indecipherable. Arguing with her was possibly the most maddening thing Bella had ever done. Her voice was so low and menacing, but somehow still even. Her reactions were impossible to predict, and Bella could not get the rise out of Rosalie she so desperately wanted, no matter what she said.

"_Why Rose, why? Really? Well if you're not lying and you actually believe I'm all of those things you just said about me, then you are absolutely FUCKING CRAZY." _Bella tried to sound as angry as possible. Something had to work on the mercurial blonde.

"_How dare you accuse me of being crazy? Guess what Bella, YOU are the one that's completely delusional about who you are, NOT ME." _This time Rosalie did rise, once again spitting her words with malice.

"_Come on Rosalie, you don't get to be the righteous one right now, when I know goddamn well that you don't want to like, actually be with me." _Bella in that moment truly meant what she said.

"_Why the fuck would you even say that? What have I ever done to you that would make you believe that?" _Rosalie's poisonous tone directly contrasted the sudden hurt that again appeared on her face.

"_Aside from JACOB, you mean? Because if you did actually want to be with me then I can't imagine you'd be so cool with Edward still being around. But you, Rose, YOU don't even care. At all." _Now Bella knew she was pushing it, but she couldn't stop herself.

"_Wow Bella, wow. You have this all so completely backwards it's frightening. Not only did I want to actually, like 'be with you' as you say, but you're so wrong about the Edward thing it's hilarious. And you know what? You are NOT going to goad me into talking about it anymore. I've said more than enough." _Rosalie declared bitterly.

"_Oh yeah, if I have it so backwards, then why exactly are you going out with Jacob AGAIN tomorrow night? Dating someone else kind of negates all the shit you've just said. What's the matter, Rose, jury still out on me?"_

"_Funny, Bella," _Rosalie spat, her hands visibly shaking with rage. _"I was just going to ask you the same thing." _She turned on her heels and walked inside her apartment, slamming the door.

_###_

"_She's right, you know?"_

Bella snapped her head around and, after a few seconds of searching for the origin of the voice, finally saw Emmett, hidden in the shadows of the far back corner of their yard, sipping what she guessed was scotch as he sat in a low Adirondack chair.

"_What?" _Bella was surprised to see him there, and even more surprised that he'd just overheard their fight. Actually, she had no idea what to do next.

"_Why are you questioning if she thinks you're worth it, when you're the one that clearly doesn't think she's worth it enough to dump your loser boyfriend? I like you Bella, but what you're doing to her is really shitty." _His voice was calm and even, and in the shadows his face was completely unreadable. If Bella had thought Rosalie was cold and emotionally hard to read, her brother was like Fort Knox. A cold, even, icy-toned Fort Knox.

"_Just because I still have a boyfriend?" _Bella questioned, despite knowing the answer already.

"_Yeah asshole, a boyfriend that I haven't seen or heard about since that Jersey Shore party. A boyfriend that I'm pretty sure my sister didn't think was still in your life. You want to tell me that I'm wrong, that Rosalie knows about him?" _The voice from the shadows was so calm it was unsettling.

"_Because her sleeping with Jacob isn't really shitty at all, right?" _She wondered if the blonde's brother would be expecting that retort.

"_Answer the question, Bella. Did Rosalie know you were still with Edward?"_

"_No, probably not, but it's not like she asked or anything. But Emmett, she's going out on a date with that Jacob guy tomorrow. And I know she slept with him last Friday."_ Bella's sarcasm had quickly dissipated into sadness.

"_Okay you really are a fucking moron, Bella. Not that I would blame Rosalie if she did, but she spent last Friday at the bar learning how to be Jacob's wingman to help him pick up chicks, and they're hanging out again tomorrow so he can teach her more. And guess what, I'm going too. They are just friends, Bella. She hasn't been with anyone since last spring." _Emmett's icy voice took on a condescending edge.

"_Why wouldn't she tell me that?" _Bella should have been more disbelieving – of course her brother would lie for Rosalie. But her gut told her that his words were true.

"_Why WOULD she? You know what, get out of my yard, you're losing her and you've just proved to me that you completely deserve to." _The younger Hale snarled his final words.

"_Why, because I didn't get rid of Edward? I'm so sorry, but your sister not only has a reputation as a HUGE player, but she's drop dead gorgeous, and smart, and connected, and has people constantly drooling all over her. What do I have, Emmett, huh? Nothing. So why exactly would I get rid of him when he's the only leverage I've got, and will probably be the only person I'm left with when she wakes up and realizes I'm not worth it? It's not like she's said she wants me to be her girlfriend or anything. She hasn't made any commitments to me. How do I even know she likes me, she hardly ever says anything." _Bella knew it was a stretch, because Rosalie _did_ tell her things. She just didn't believe her. But Bella lied all the same, desperate for some kind of insight.

"_That's bullshit, did you even listen to what she said not two minutes ago? And well before tonight I've heard her say things to you and act in a way towards you that renders that entire bullshit argument you just made exactly what it is; pure and utter bullshit. Stop lying. You know goddamn well how much she likes you, and you know goddamn well that you hid your boyfriend from her on purpose. I've never seen my sister care about anyone the way she cares about you, and you know it. But you know what, Bella? I sure as hell wouldn't make a commitment to you either after you told someone else you loved them right in front of my face. That was a shitty, shitty thing you did, and you've really hurt my sister. Sorry if she's not running around in tears and screaming at you, but Rosalie's not like that and she never will be. And trust me, there are PLENTY of good reasons why. Rosalie has experienced more pain in her life than you can imagine, and the fact that you're adding to that pain makes me really, really want you to get the fuck out of my yard and out of her life, because last Friday you proved to me that you are in no way good enough for her." _Emmett's words cut Bella like a knife._ "Congratulations Bella, last Friday you broke her, you broke my sister, and I don't know if you've noticed, but she's already started to shut down. I've watched her this past week and especially tonight as she fucked with you and teased you on the dance floor. She was seducing you, nothing more. She's closed you off. You're lucky she even bothered to argue with you a few minutes ago. There's no letting you in anymore. I know my sister, and I know what she's doing."_

"_Why would she do that?" _ Bella asked weakly.

"_How about why would she give anymore of herself to someone that is still dating somebody else? And after everything I've watched her do to be with you? I didn't think you were stupid, but you're acting like a fucking idiot right now. And guess what, Bella? It's over. She may fuck you a few more times, but she's done, I can see it in her eyes. She's not going to let herself feel anything else for you again, and believe me, my sister knows how to do that better than anyone." _ Bella felt panic flood her system.

"_Wait, what, no she can't do that Emmett!" _ She didn't mean to yell, but she couldn't help herself. His words weren't just alarming; they were downright frightening.

"_You're losing her, Bella, if you haven't completely lost her already after your ridiculous outburst tonight." _Emmett's calm, cool demeanor had returned. Bella hated how easily the Hale siblings were able to control their emotions.

"_No Emmett no, wait, please stop saying that, I can't lose her, you don't understand. I fucking love her; I'm in love with her, I can't lose her, please, please, I love her so much, please help me." _Bella was desperate. She knew Emmett's words were true and she knew Rosalie's response to her behavior would be well-deserved. She'd done this to herself, and now she was panicked by the impending repercussions of her actions. She couldn't lose Rosalie. She just couldn't.

"_Help you? Well here's a tip – for starters, stop being a coward and lose the boyfriend, IMMEDIATELY. And quit fishing around for all this fucking reassurance from her. Stop acting like an insecure little girl. She thinks you're worth it, and regrettably, I still agree with her reasoning, so now fucking drop it. You're not really that crazy, you're just trying to manipulate her, and me, so knock it off." _

"_Ugh, okay, okay," _Bella conceded. "_It's just fucking hard for me. I'm not used to feeling this way, and she's a fucking GIRL. AND she's Rosalie. Yes I was trying to manipulate her, okay? I'm sorry, I'll fix this, I swear."_

"_Does she know that you love her?" _Emmett had just asked the $64,000 question.

"_No. But she hasn't said she loves me either." _Bella's words escaped her before she had a chance to amend them.

"_And she won't, not for a long time, especially not after this. You're never going to get the kind of reassurance you're trying to manipulate her into giving you. If you love her, tell her. NOW. It's probably the only thing that can fix this. You'll just have to suck it up and be brave for once. Man up. If you can't handle it, again, get out of my yard." _Despite his threat at the end, Emmett's voice was much softer now.

"_No, I can handle it, I can handle it, just tell me what to do, I can't lose her, I'll do anything, I swear. I'm in love with her, I know I've fucked up, I already knew I did, but please, I can't lose her." _Bella felt hot tears betraying her.

"_Well here's tip number two – like I said already, if you're in love with her, TELL HER. Although if you do it before you dump that douche bag I swear to god I will ruin you…" _He literally snarled at the teary brunette. Icy, frightening Emmett had suddenly re-appeared.

"_No I will, I will, I don't even like him, Emmett, I've barely even touched him since like, last June. I can't anymore. "_ Bella was sincere; she hadn't slept with her boyfriend in almost five months. Once she began to fall for Rosalie, she found touching Edward unbearable.

"_Well if you really don't want to lose her, make it right, tell her how you feel, and start apologizing like crazy. I'm warning you – I know my sister. You betrayed her trust. You're going to have to work your ass off to get her back. You better man up and be ready to tell her exactly how you feel knowing that you're not going to get it back. Don't let her down Bella. Seriously." _Emmett was stern but softer again. Despite his earlier words, it felt almost like he wanted her to make things right almost as much as she did. _Almost_

"_I can do that, I'll do it, I'll do anything. Can you let me in so I can talk to her?" _Bella pleaded.

"_No, sorry, my loyalty lies with her. She'll see you when she's ready. Just go home and get your shit together. I really did like you, Bella, and I will again, but if you hurt her more, don't expect any sympathy from me. In fact, don't expect to talk to me or my sister ever again." _ With that, Emmett got up from his chair and emerged into the light, but he didn't stop to look at her and he said nothing more. He just walked straight across the yard into his apartment and quietly shut the door.

###

TBC

As for all of the support many of you have leant me with this story - honestly, I find it very inspiring, much more so than I'd ever imagined I would. Thank you.


	21. Chapter 21

Ownership: Nothing but the story

A/N: Sorry for the brief pause – I went on a short vacation out of the country. I promise I'll get back to posting more consistently again. Oh and I just have to say, your reviews have been amazing – they're so inspiring. I just love them. Thank you so much. Oh and ps, Rosalie is really conflicted. That's why she seems to vacillate so much, and often says and feels things that very much contradict earlier things she's said. She's just a head case right now. Bear with her…

###

Rosalie marched into Dr. Hatcher's office promptly at 9:00am feeling utterly drained. She'd stayed up for hours the night before trying to process and categorize and then somehow actually assess and respond to Bella's words, and she hadn't had much luck.

She didn't even bother to sit down in the waiting room; rather, she leaned against the wall by the front door and glared at nothing in particular. She was antsy; twitchy. Sitting wasn't an option.

The cheerful, somewhat plump doctor greeted her a few minutes later, wearing her customary navy blazer and jeans, and sporting a freshly highlighted chin-length blonde bob. Rosalie couldn't help but notice that Hatcher looked an awful lot like He-Man with that new cut and color. She wondered how much she'd paid for what was essentially a Dutch-boy.

"_Good Morning, Dr. Hatcher." _Rosalie plastered on a partially enthused smile. She was in a rotten mood, for obvious reasons. She'd come dangerously close to greeting the newly-coiffed doctor as 'Prince Valiant,' and was disappointed when she remembered that she actually needed this woman for something and therefore had to hold her words in order to stay on the doctor's good side.

"_Good Morning, Rosalie. You look exhausted." _ The woman meant no ill-will, but her comment pissed Rosalie off all the same. She had to again remind herself to keep her tongue held for the duration of their session.

"_Yeah, I feel pretty exhausted." _Rosalie sighed and straightened the black pencil skirt she'd doffed for a luncheon with her mother later that afternoon. She adjusted the cuff on her fitted black shirt. She played with the strand of large pearls that fell to her collarbone. Anything so as to not focus on the problems or the person in front of her.

"_Care to elaborate?" _Hatcher prodded.

"_Yes, it's all Bella bullshit, though."_ Rosalie sounded quite defeated, and the woman picked up on it immediately.

"_I'm sure it's not bullshit," _Dr. Hatcher said in a surprisingly soothing voice, a look of sympathy on her round face.

"_No, it is. I'm so, so fucked up in the head right now." _Rosalie, reacting to the doctor's tone, had evened her voice out tremendously. She didn't want her own voice to convey weakness, as the doctor's soothing tone had implied. No one pitied her – she was above that.

"_Rosalie, tell me what happened?" _Hatcher continued to soothe, aggravating Rosalie to no end.

"_Well the last time I saw you was two Fridays ago, right?" _Rosalie spoke calmly, despite the raging torrent of emotions hidden behind her steely expression.

"_Yes, can you fill me in or do I have to drag this out of you? Just tell me what the last two weeks have been like, okay?" _ This sympathetic tone of hers felt patronizing, even though Rosalie knew that wasn't its intention. _Shut up Rosalie, shut up, do not bite her head off…_

"_Sure, because it's just super fun and not at all humiliating to talk about…" _Sarcasm dripped from the beautiful blonde's full lips.

"_Jamie." _Dr. Hatcher's tone was even, but Rosalie knew that she growing frustrated with Rosalie's attempts to stall.

"_Okay Hatcher, that's some dirty fucking pool you're playing. It's not even nine o'clock and you're already hustling me?" _Rosalie's tone was more than sarcastic now; it was actually menacing.

"_Actually it's nine-ten, Rosalie, and I've got to use what you've given me. So I'll say it again. Jamie." _Dr. Hatcher tried to hold Rosalie's icy gaze as the blonde glared at her, but soon backed down, suddenly finding her notepad extraordinarily interesting. Rosalie felt a brief rush of power upon recognizing that the doctor was intimidated. She crossed her slender arms and said nothing.

"_Why won't you talk?" _Hatcher questioned meekly.

"_Because it appears that my attempts to 'open up' and 'talk' over the past few months have been not only in vain, but have also actually rendered me weaker than I should have ever allowed myself to be. I was much better off without her; without you. This temporary, shared 'introspection' I've allowed myself to actually voice has cost me greatly. I don't want to care anymore. I was happier before her. And before you." _Rosalie growled her response; hate in her eyes. But not hate for the doctor, or for Bella. Hate for herself. She hated what she'd become.

"_Rosalie please," _she'd hurt Dr. Hatcher's feelings; she could tell by the weakness in her voice and pain in her eyes.

"_Please what?" _Rosalie sneered. _"How is it that your feelings are actually hurt? You're a fucking psychiatrist; I'd expect that your training would have given you more effective methods of coping with combative patients." _Now the doctor looked entirely crest-fallen.

Rosalie remembered how hurtful her words could sometimes be, and the expression on the kind, plump woman's face softened her instantly. She felt badly; she had upset the doctor, and she knew better than to pick on someone weaker than she. Rosalie marveled at how easily compassion came to her these days. She almost felt like a real human being again. A completely real, powerless, weak human being. And again, she hated what Bella had done to her.

"_Doctor Hatcher, I'm sorry." _Rosalie's voice was softer now._ "You don't deserve my wrath. I shouldn't take out my anger on you; I'm better than that. I should have more control than that. Forgive me, I realize that I'm acting like a petulant child…" _Rosalie half-smiled in contrition – a half-smile was all that she could muster. The past week had been _very_ difficult for her.

The doctor returned her apology with only a shy smile. Rosalie couldn't help but notice that Hatcher could actually be quite endearing at times.

"_Okay…" _Rosalie sighed. _"I don't know where to start; do you want me to just do one long monolog, or should I take breaks so you can pepper in your infinite wisdom?"_

"_Very funny. One long monolog, start with two weeks ago after our last session." _ Hatcher's tone and expression were emotionally neutral; _finally_ she'd recovered from Rosalie's attack, and her "therapist face" was in full effect now.

"_God, two weeks ago feels like a hundred years ago, I can barely remember it…" _Rosalie tossed her iPhone back and forth between her hands. _"I don't know why I should talk about this. You can't help me."_

"_JAMIE. Rosalie, stop stalling."_ Hatcher was right. Rosalie didn't know why she was so reluctant to talk to the one woman who might actually be able to give her some kind of insight or advice. _Suck it up, Rosalie, _she commanded herself.

"_Okay…" _The model took one deep, but ineffective attempt at a cleansing breath while she collected her thoughts, then began:

"_The first week was just the standard, me-falling-in-love-or-something-like-it type of bullshit." _The sarcasm in Rosalie's voice had returned, but to the trained ear, pain in her tone would have also been detectable.

"_That Friday we went to MOMA after Bella finished work because she'd never seen any part of 'The Nympheas' and I actually got her to agree after to let me take her to Paris so she could see the whole thing at the L'Orangerie, since she's never been to Europe and Paris is such a perfect introduction." _Rosalie sounded as if she was reading a newspaper abstract; there was no emotion in her voice, which was eerie and strange considering what she was speaking about.

Dr. Hatcher stayed silent, but encouraged her to continue with sympathetic eyes (which Rosalie suddenly found far less annoying.)

"_Ok so let me think, we found a secret nook in the museum and I went down on her, then we went home and had more sex. Saturday, same thing, went to the park and walked all around the Ramble counting condom wrappers, fooled around there, got in a water fight at Turtle Pond even though the water was freezing, came home, watched one of her Gators games on TV, went to a party at the bar next door, then had mind-blowing sex in her bedroom." _Rosalie willed herself to remain emotionless as she spoke, trying in vain to prevent her brain from lingering on the significance and happiness she'd felt during those times with Bella.During every time and every day that she'd spent with the captivating brunette. Because of course as she spoke, that was all she could think about.

"_Oh and on Sunday we took the boat out because I just had the Hinckley brought back to Battery Park, but with the temperatures recently it was like the frozen sail from hell, and I ended up having to sail the damn thing with an insanely gorgeous brunette sitting in my lap with a blanket around both of us. But we still had an amazing time, or at least I thought we did - we laughed and talked and did stupid, goofy stuff and you know, just all that ridiculous crap I imagine one does when they're totally smitten. Oh and then we had sex on the boat, and then more sex back home, and then I endured two hours of suffering through ANOTHER football game because she was of course, snuggled up into me under a blanket in front of the TV, and I am literally unable to resist her. I find myself doing anything to be with her. I'll watch hours upon hours of those stupid games if it means she'll be next to me. I've actually even secretly learned the rules so I can keep up with her, since she loves it so much. I have no self-control anymore. With ANYTHING when it comes to her." _Rosalie uttered her last few words angrily. She did indeed hate who she'd become.

"_Rosalie?" _Hatcher's words brought her back to the present; she didn't realize that she'd drifted off, consumed with the conflict between love for girl and hatred for what she'd allowed Bella to do to her.

Rosalie felt like now she really actually had lost her mind.

"_Sorry, I just… I hate how much I care about her. I hate how much I need her." _Dr. Hatcher raised an eyebrow. _ "Oh sorry, right, so after the game we had sex. Because we always have sex. Or had sex, I suppose. I can't go a single day without touching her. I crave her, Hatcher. Despite everything, I still absolutely fucking crave her. I hate it." _

"_Rosalie, just tell me what happened. You haven't spoken like this in months. I don't like it. What happened after that?"_

"_Well…" _Rosalie returned to delivering her words in a cold monotone, trying to convey as little emotion as possible. She spoke as if she was describing someone else's life and feelings. "_The rest of the week consisted almost entirely of Bella coming home from work, us sneaking out for dinner, and talking and laughing and sleeping together and just generally making me feel like maybe I actually wasn't destined to be alone and empty after all. I actually allowed myself to feel like perhaps I was worthy of falling in love. I foolishly thought that maybe good things could actually happen to me." _

She ran her fingers through long blonde hair in a gesture of frustration as she continued._ "So let me think, um on Tuesday night she bet me $100 that I couldn't get a police officer to give me his hat, and I won, of course, and then we fought because I refused to accept her money and then we had like, mind-blowing make-up sex, oh and on Thursday we went to see a movie at the theatre right next door to the apartment, and it ended up being really sad and Bella cried, and you know how I get when I see Bella cry – I mean, I completely lose all sense of reason and all I want to do is comfort her. It's like my heart AND my brain literally melt. If she ever knew how much of a weakness I have for her when she cries... I mean I just can't control myself." _

Rosalie crossed and uncrossed her long, toned legs as she inhaled deeply. Hatcher tapped her pencil on her notepad and waited for her to speak._ "Okay, I'm getting off-track, so yes we saw a sad movie and she cried and I made her giggle slightly by carrying her out of the movie theatre and all the way home, and then she came over and started crying again because the movie really did upset her so, and I made love to her – it was like tender, "my stomach is literally on the floor because I feel so much for you," ridiculously emotional sex. No not even sex, like 'love-making.' Who would have ever imagined I could be capable of such a thing? So yeah, I 'made love' to her for like at least three hours I think." _

Rosalie bit her lip as she prepared herself for next part of her story. Her head was beginning to ache - from stress, she assumed.

"_And then on Friday I came home and she and her sister and Alice and Jasper and Em and Em's friend from college were already outside, and she basically ignored me and then her boyfriend came over and they kissed and said 'I love you' in front of me. So yup, that was week one. Did I mention the boyfriend? Did I?" _The emotion had returned; Rosalie snarled as she spoke, sarcasm dripping off of her every word.

"_Oh but don't worry Hatcher, I'm REALLY in touch with my feelings so I can tell you honestly that everything she did that night REALLY FUCKING HURT. I think it actually cracked my heart a tiny bit, if that's even possible. She said she LOVED him. In front of me. I'm not enough for her, Hatcher. She doesn't even know the dark parts of me; she only knows the best, most impressive side of me, and that side of me, the best side of me, isn't enough for her. I tried so hard to be good; to be a person that she'd find worthy. I've never cared like this. But she doesn't think I'm worth it. Can you imagine if she really knew me? The real me? If she thinks me right now isn't good enough, I can't even imagine what she'd think of who I actually am. She'd run away as fast as she could. Getting involved with her was a terrible idea." _

Rosalie buried her perfect face into her perfect hands, and knew in that moment that neither was really perfect at all._ "I'm so fucked up in the head right now…"_

"_I can imagine. But Rosalie, this boyfriend must not be a very big factor in her life, because if I'm not mistaken, you two have spent almost all of your free time together for quite some time now, isn't that correct?" _Hatcher's response surprised Rosalie, and it also worried her. She knew how easily she would let herself believe that Bella did care for her. She wanted to find a reason; _any_ reason; to justify the beautiful girl's behavior. And she knew how dangerous this was. She couldn't let her needs and emotions cloud her judgment; she needed to look at the girl's actions objectively.

Rosalie knew that humans possess a remarkable ability to allow their desires to dictate their perceptions. _We see only what we want to see,_ she mused, and she knew that if Dr. Hatcher fed Rosalie's belief that Bella was worth holding onto, Rosalie would embrace it. She'd eat it right up. She hated that she was willing to compromise her dignity, her self-respect, her value, her emotions- her _anything_ in order to not give Bella up. No one had ever made her so weak. She felt like a fool; a helpless, love sick idiot. And a far cry from the controlled, careful person that she'd worked so hard to be.

"_Yup," _Rosalie conceded. _ "I've been a total, whipped loser; I've hung out with her basically every night in October. Despite my better judgment, I saw her every chance I could. I knew it was stupid and dangerous, and I wasn't managing my demand or anything, but I didn't care. I just don't care when it comes to her. That's why I have to get away from her. And no, I had no idea he was still around."_

"_Did you ever ask her?"_

"_No, because I foolishly didn't want her to know that I cared. I already felt so weak from my ridiculous need for her, that I tried to at least hold on to the few shreds of dignity I still had left. If I'd said anything, she'd know I was jealous. And I DO NOT get jealous. I just assumed that she wasn't with anyone else, because I couldn't imagine how she could be and still act the way she did with me. I thought she felt the same way as I did, and so I never asked. I figured he was gone. Big mistake. I could have saved myself a lot of heartbreak if I'd just said something…" _Rosalie was too conflicted and upset to be embarrassed by how much she was revealing to the doctor in this session.

"_So she invited him over last Friday?"_

"_No, I don't think she did, actually I'm sure she didn't – when he arrived, he said something about wanting to surprise her. He brought fucking pink carnations. How tacky is that? PINK CARNATIONS. They probably cost him $2 at the bodega. That's like, not even trying…"_

"_Rosalie, just because something is inexpensive doesn't mean it doesn't have value." _Dr. Hatcher tried to admonish her, but Rosalie simply chuckled and gave her unusually colored eyes a good rolling.

"_Oh for Christssakes, Hatcher, I know that. You're missing my point – that's like the most generic, boring, tacky, flower on the planet. He didn't put any effort into it, just came over there like a slime ball and said some stupid shit like "I love how my Bella stands up for her friends" and blah blah. I mean, fucking carnations!" _ Rosalie felt slightly less vulnerable as she indirectly declared her superiority over the boy. She _was _better; she had far better taste; she had more money; she was smarter; she came from a better family; she was more beautiful; and she cared more about Bella. _Why am I not enough?_

"_Why are we talking about flowers?" _Hatcher chided her.

"_Ugh," _Rosalie rolled those gorgeous green eyes yet again. She was beginning to hate this conversation. _ "Because I'm avoiding the real issue, God Hatcher, you're the worst…"_

"_What's the issue?" _ The psychiatrist was nothing if not persistent.

"_Well besides the boyfriend? Hatcher, the issue is that I can't let myself feel for her anymore. I'm not enough for her; I get it. The first time I actually let myself care about someone, I get rejected – I get it. Life is unfair. I know. This type of thing happens all the time to people. And I'm sure this is some kind of karmic retribution for becoming so closed off and protecting myself from letting something exactly like this happen for all of these years. So whatever, I get it, I'm not bitter." _Rosalie wasn't lying; she wasn't bitter. She was sure she deserved all of this somehow.

"_But I know I can't do this with her anymore. And I've resolved myself not to." _Rosalie played with her hair, combing it back with her fingers and flipping the part from left to right and back again.

"_What does 'resolving yourself' look like?" _The doctor's eyes were watery blue. She'd never noticed that before. _Focus, Rosalie, Focus…_

"_Now, half the time when I'm with her I'm like totally my old self again. You know, seducing her, playing mind games - all that stuff. Nothing major, just some push and pull. And not caring. Or rather trying not to care, I should say. Because half the time I just want to be my old-self again." _The doctor opened her mouth to respond, but Rosalie knew what she was going to ask and cut her off.

"_Which is obviously because half the time I'm so terrified that my feelings are on the line that I want to regress back to the time in which I controlled everything." _

"_Exactly." _Hatcher seemed awfully pleased with herself, but Rosalie refrained from commenting. She knew she had a tendency to over-react when she felt vulnerable.

"_But so what?" _ The blonde slumped back into the couch and rubbed her forehead. It was rare for her to display this much emotion through her body language, but she was utterly exasperated. _"I mean, just because I know that I'm feeling and behaving this way because I'm a head case, it doesn't stop me from still doing it. And shutting down helps - it helps, it really does." _Rosalie felt her chest constrict as suddenly her overactive mind conjured up the image of Bella laughing gleefully as the waves of the Atlantic splashed over the deck of the boat. And then the image of the gorgeous brunette beneath her, rich brown eyes fighting to stay open and remain staring deeply up into her own as Rosalie's graceful fingers brought her over the edge. And finally, the image of the smaller girl weeping at the foot of her bed before crawling into Rosalie's arms not one week before. 

"_Until I see her." _Rosalie hung her head. She had never shied away from eye contact with the psychiatrist until this moment. "_Shutting down only helps until I see her. Because as soon as I see her, Hatcher, a part of me just crumbles. Half of me is okay and can stay on track and controlled, but the other half isn't. And when I see her, that's when the other half of me comes out. The half that can't help but care about her. Love her, I mean. God, I feel so weak when I say that. I can't believe I love her. I never thought I'd love anyone." _Rosalie paused, feeling somewhat amazed by what she'd said. Because she truly was, in that moment, sure that she loved her. Sometimes she wasn't sure; but right now, she was. And she'd really never thought that would have ever happened to her.

Secretly, she hoped that she was wrong.

"_Hatcher, I can't see her anymore because I can't keep the charade up. I can't keep waffling between these two sides. I feel like fucking Sybil. I know I'm going to lose it soon. And right now, right this second, I mean, I just want to like, fall apart and beg her to dump him. I just want to be with her, Hatcher - I hate myself for feeling this way but oh my God I just want to be with her so badly. When I'm not all in my own head trying to regain control and fuck with her, you know, treat her like I've always treated people – when I'm not extremely focused on keeping that control, I find that I'm actually willing to compromise literally ANYTHING just to have her in my life. That's what's so sick. Half the time I'm like, planning her demise, and the other half of the time I'm just coming up with all these reasons to justify why I shouldn't get rid of her. She's breaking me. And I can't keep control long enough to prevent it."_

"_What are the reasons that you just mentioned that could justify why you shouldn't get rid of her?" _

"_Hatcher, please don't encourage me. I need help pulling back. I feel like a drug addict." _The sadness in Rosalie's eyes was hard to miss.

"_Rosalie, I need to know. What if you're wrong? What if she does care about you? You aren't a fool. You wouldn't have gotten into this without good reasons. Tell me." _Rosalie appreciated Hatcher in these moments, when the woman really did seem to care about her. It felt nice. Having someone care felt nice.

Rosalie sighed. _"Please, don't make me. I want to believe those reasons more than anything. But I can't keep feeling this weak. I need her to go away; I need to not love her, and I need her to not love me. I'm not meant for this."_

"_Rosalie…" _ Dr. Hatcher spoke her name gently, and smiled encouragingly at her with kind eyes.

"_It's just that I know she's never been with a girl before, and now she's like, actually pretty serious with one. I've dealt with 'straight' girls plenty of times before and it's fucking messy. I never stick around to watch them iron out their shit, but I have friends who have, and it's always at least as complicated as my situation with Bella is, if not more. And her sister is very much opposed to me spending any time with her because she's secretly very jealous, but regardless, I wonder if Bella just hasn't technically dumped Edward because as long as he's around it keeps Leah off her back. It does make some sense. Because I mean, I literally have spent like 30 days straight with the girl. There has been absolutely no communication with anyone in front of me, but even if she talks to him during the day, isn't it odd to not spend a single evening with your boyfriend for such a long time period? And I know that she didn't plan on him coming over that Friday night, I just do." _

"_I think you might be right, Rosalie." _

"_I know Bella; she's awfully insecure. I just wonder if this was an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of thing. Because she's afraid of what her sister will think, and he hasn't really been around to interfere with her life…" _Rosalie sighed again and looked down, examining her manicure – her preferred nervous habit. _"Of course, I only wonder that half the time. The other half – well then I don't wonder anything at all, I just feel betrayed and hurt. I feel totally betrayed and hurt. And I want to fuck with her, get my power back – you know, all that stuff. I mean, Hatcher, if she really wanted to be with me, why not just do it?"_

"_Being with you means coming out of the closet, though, correct?" _Hatcher wasn't giving up on Bella; that Rosalie could now see clearly.

"_No, I mean, it wouldn't have to if she didn't want to, I could still help her keep it a secret until she's ready. And it's not like I'm some bull dyke with a flat top and a penchant for fringe jackets. I'm Rosalie fucking Hale. Sorry, I know that sounds awfully arrogant, but it's true. I look good. A lot of girls already want to be with me. I could take care of her; I could make things so easy. No one has ever given me a hard time for being bi." _Rosalie crossed her arms and sat up much straighter. She was Rosalie fucking Hale, after all…

"_Yes but you're absolutely the exception, not the rule. You have no idea what she's feeling right now because you never went through it." _ Hatcher spoke plainly.

"_Sure I did, I mean…" _Rosalie thought for a second. Her sexuality had always been embraced by others, and if anyone had ever objected, they were surely too afraid of her to ever voice their opinions. _"No, no you're right, I never really did. I'm very lucky that way."_

"_Who knows what's going on in her head? You need to talk to her before you write her off."_

"_No, no I don't. I don't want to. I need to write her off. I just want to sleep with her one more time and be done with her. I know I shouldn't even do that, but I feel like I need to say goodbye. I just need to see her one last time and then I'll be fine." _Rosalie was speaking more to herself than to the doctor at this point.

"_I don't understand, why won't you talk to her? Surely you can muster the courage to at least hear her out." _

"_No, because the story isn't over, and this is where I get totally confused. Hatcher, Bella was insanely jealous of me on Friday night when I left with Jacob, like texting me 'did you fuck him' and saying all this stuff that was so nasty, all while her own boyfriend was sleeping in her bed next door! But fine, whatever, I told her Jacob and I were just friends. Then after her sister's birthday party last night, we were having an amazing time and I'd actually finally let it go, because once we started really kissing all of a sudden it didn't matter to me what she'd done anymore. I just wanted to be with her again; I didn't care. I'd spent the entire night trying to be controlled and emotionless – I tried to seduce her; mess with her head; get some power back. And I was doing a great job until we started really, really kissing. Whenever she kisses me, I have to fight so hard not to give in, and it is getting easier, but on Thursday I was so tired of fighting that I just decided to give up. I just want to be with her so badly, Hatcher. And when I did give in last night, it felt so good. She makes me feel so good. Ugh…" _Rosalie huffed dramatically.

"_So right as we walked into the building to go to my apartment to um, you know, right as I opened the door she saw a text message from Jake and she just flew off the handle at me. She accused me of lying, and fucking everybody, and using her, and she called me crazy for thinking she was worth anything, and I'm so sorry Hatcher, but SHE HAS A BOYFRIEND. She's the one that has someone else, not me. And I've never given her any reason to think that I was with anyone besides her. It's absolutely inappropriate to act like she has such crazy ownership over me, when I have nothing over her – I actually have to share her with someone else, and still I'm practically willing to do it. And she's so delusional about who she is, I mean, she can't see herself at ALL. She will not listen to me, but seriously, she had absolutely no right to speak to me the way she did. She was nasty, vicious. I realized last night that she keeps Edward around because she hasn't decided that I'm good enough yet. And she's right - I'm not good enough for her yet. And it's only downhill from here – she always wants to know so much about me. She accuses me of being withholding. Like I said earlier, if I'm not good enough for her now, I'll never be good enough for her after she actually finds out who I really am. It hurts in my chest, Hatcher. I think she broke my heart. I can't believe it, but it hurts so much. My thoughts are consumed with her. I have to let her go. Something that Friday with Edward happened to me, and every day after I've felt like I've been breaking down, bit by bit. Last night just shattered me though. I have to let her go. I started to change that Friday, too."_

"_How so?"_

"_I can feel myself shutting down. Not the intentional part of shutting down; the sub-conscious part where my brain just seems to act on its own accord. Despite what I told you about Thursday night, it IS getting easier for me to fuck with her; she's starting to look like everyone else to me for longer periods of time now. Even after she kisses me, sometimes. I lasted a LONG time that night before I cracked. Hatcher, I'd be more understanding about the whole 'in the closet' thing, but the way she's freaking out about other people, acting like she owns me - it's like she's not even considering how the Edward element might make me feel. It makes me feel worthless. I feel so worthless. And you know what, I've actually been really brave, for me at least; I've never exposed myself like this, I've never allowed any situation to get to the point where it could hurt me. And maybe this is payback for me being so closed off, but it's killing me. I swear to God, I just need to see her one more time so I can close the book on her, because I can't do this anymore, Hatcher. I always crack when I'm around her. I can't keep control. And I end up just being more and more vulnerable, and feeling more and more hurt when I think about what she's doing with that boyfriend."_

"_Explain."_

"_Are you not listening to me? I feel like a broken record. I've told you, I can't keep my resolve with Bella. I fucking crack. How much more do you want me to humiliate myself in front of you? I'm weak, okay?" _Rosalie snarled again. She was never one to raise her voice; instead, her tone would just get frighteningly sharp and menacing.

"_Rosalie, I just want examples. I'm trying to understand. I don't think you're weak. I'm trying to help." _Hatcher was standing up to her. Rosalie hated that.

"_Fine, because this isn't already awful enough, please, do let me give you specifics." _She snarked, words dripping with sarcasm, but continued to speak._ "On Saturday during the day, she came over and I fucked around with her all morning, teasing her, doing all the stuff I used to do to people. But then when we were saying goodbye, she told me she'd miss me and I just cracked. And when I told her I'd miss her too, I meant every fucking word. And my heart hurt. That night, we had this huge party and I did my whole 'come here, go away' thing, and I had it down perfectly – I fucked her without feeling much of anything for her for hours. I just did massive amounts of coke, and I was so high I even let her fuck me with an, um, an apparatus. So everything is great, and then all of a sudden she gets me on my back where I'm totally vulnerable and she starts being incredibly tender. She starts actually like, making love to me, and singing along to 'Africa,' and you know what that song means to me, and then all of a sudden I crack again and I'm crying and more hopelessly in love with her than I've ever been. And she woke up in the middle of the night, or morning I guess, and was so sweet that I think I was more in love with her then than I'd even been when we went to sleep. Ugh she's so incredible. She's so funny, and endearing, and beautiful, and she's so special. I hate how much I think I might actually love her. Because I think this is love, right? I can't be in love with her. This can't be love. I am going to make damn sure I pull away before she gets the chance to. She WILL NOT get the option of picking her boyfriend over me. I can't keep feeling this way. She's walking all over me and breaking my fucking heart. And she doesn't love me back; not that I'd want her to…" _Rosalie's face was beginning to flush. She had never been more eager to get out of Dr. Hatcher's office than she was right now. This was pure torture.

"_Is there anything she could do to change it?" _God how she wished that Hatcher would just drop the conversation. It was just making Rosalie sadder and sadder. And angrier and angrier. She didn't want to talk about this any longer.

"_I don't know, Hatcher, I don't know. I'm sad, in this detached sort of way, even during the times when I feel dead around her. When I feel like I've always felt with people. I'm sad for myself. I didn't want this to happen with her. She was special. She IS special. But she was so special to me. Can we just stop talking? I don't even know what I'm saying anymore."_

"_Just tell me, what are you going to do?" _Relentless, relentless fucking Hatcher…_I can't stand this woman, _Rosalie thought angrily.

"_Look I just can't be around her anymore, not after last night. I need to stay away, and lick my wounds and get over her. Because if I'm around her I'll crack again. I just need to say goodbye first. It's getting cold – so then I might go to Mustique for a little while and warm up."_

"_Are you running away?" _The therapist asked pointedly.

"_Do you think I'm running away?" _Rosalie countered. She was done with this conversation, and was more than willing to answer each question with her own question until Hatcher shut up and let her leave.

"_Rosalie, it's tough for me to say, because on the one hand I've watched you try really quite valiantly to put yourself out there and expose yourself in ways that were incredibly difficult for you, given what you've gone through. And I'm extremely disappointed that Bella hasn't pulled herself together a little more. On the other hand, what is so unbelievably hard for you to do comes completely naturally to other people, so I doubt very much that Bella understands the sacrifices you've made for her. And your reactions are based upon a life that has been in some ways very cruel to you. But they would be over-reactions for most people. I'm sorry, but that's the reality of the situation. I don't know if you should walk away. I don't doubt that she has the power to truly damage you, and emotionally, you're very fragile – it wouldn't take much to ruin you in a rather irrevocable fashion. But should you run away because of that? I don't know. Rosalie, I'm still not quite sure what kind of a role the whole 'closet' thing plays in some of her decision making. She might be more committed to you than you think. Especially given her reaction to your male friend." _ Okay, maybe Hatcher didn't need to shut up after all…

"_So what should I do?" _Rosalie whispered, not sure why she felt the need to speak so quietly.

"_Look, don't reserve a pilot for your little Caribbean trip just yet, wait and see what she does. She absolutely needs to make things right after the way she behaved last night. If she doesn't come after you, then forget it, and get the hell out of Manhattan for a while so that you can recover. I know how much it will hurt you. But you're pretty hurt already, so what's a little more pain really going to do? Because if she does try to make amends, which I believe she will, you owe it to yourself to stick around long enough to see what that looks like and feels like to you. I know you'll regret it if you don't. Can you try that? How does that sound?"_

Rosalie sighed. She was exhausted. _"Well, it definitely caters to the part of me that is desperate to justify her behavior so I don't have to lose her…" _She kicked at the corner of the Oriental rug in Dr. Hatcher's office with her trusty Chanel ballet flats. _"…but I'd need a few days to pack for the islands anyway, so I might as well try it."_

"_It will be okay, Rosalie. I promise."_

###

Rosalie walked through the front door of the apartment and tossed her keys in a silver bowl on the hall table. She grabbed the two white orchids that framed the mirror above the table and padded over to the sink to give them a drink. As she rounded the corner, her mouth dropped.

There, on the kitchen floor, was the largest, most beautiful vase of white flowers she'd ever received. Her super had left a note apologizing for entering the apartment unannounced, but explained that the flowers were simply too big to leave outside the front door and he hadn't known what else to do with them.

Rosalie gasped at the arrangement. White Calla Lilies, and white Roses, Freesia, Tulips, Amaryllis, white Phalaenopsis AND Dendrobium Orchids – the list of flowers in the bouquet went on and on. The vase wasn't really a vase at all; it was a dark blue glazed urn. Blue and white, her absolute favorite. The arrangement was utterly breathtaking.

She grabbed the card, assuming that one of the fashion houses had sent her some kind of gift in exchange for agreeing to host an in-store event or something of that nature. After all, she was very familiar with the florist where the exquisite arrangement had come from, and he was so expensive and exclusive that no individual could have just randomly called him up.

As she unsealed the heavy cardstock of the envelope, she paused for a second.

Whomever had sent this to her must have had the most uncanny sense of timing in human history. She had felt so absolutely awful, sad, conflicted, lovesick, _everything –_ this morning, and yet all of a sudden these beautiful flowers had arrived and made her smile. Rosalie had an incredible fondness for natural beauty, both in flora and fauna, and she l_oved_ white flowers. This was the most gorgeous arrangement she'd ever seen – and for Rosalie Hale, that was saying something.

She was already mentally filing through her stationary collection, thinking of which stock she'd use for the thank-you note, as she popped the florist's note out.

And just about fell over.

_Dear Rosalie,_

_I'm so incredibly sorry for everything. I care about you so, so much. Please just talk to me so that I can explain._

_Love, Bella_

Rosalie had already ignored roughly 32 text messages and 12 phone calls from the girl in the brief span of time since their argument.

She looked back at the arrangement and sighed.

And then was suddenly absolutely furious. If that girl had just spent $1,500 on flowers for her (she knew how much the bouquet cost, having sent many at the designer's behest when she worked in PR) – If Bella had done that, she was going to absolutely murder her. There was no possible way that the beautiful brunette could have afforded them. And to spend that kind of money on her?

Rosalie was livid.

She had half a mind to send Bella a text message saying exactly that, but then she thought better of it. Perhaps Bella had used Pete Schwartzman's account. Maybe she hadn't paid for them after all. Pete was the director one of the largest hedge funds in the world, Greystone, and he was worth about $5 billion on his own. He sent stuff like this all the time. And Bella was his head assistant, although she dealt much more with the business end of his life as opposed to personal matters – Pete had other, lesser assistants for that. But she could have still used his card -it was certainly possible. The thought gave her some solace. So she didn't text message her. Because she was pretty sure Bella didn't pay for the bouquet.

Not to mention, she wasn't ready to talk to Bella yet.

###

"_She's an asshole, Rosalie." _Emmett lined up his shot and sent two balls into the far left pocket of the billiards table.

"_What if she's not, Em?" _Rosalie leaned back against the edge of the table where she'd been supervising Jacob and Emmett's very heated, high stakes game in the back of a wild, rowdy bar downtown. _"I mean, she has spent like every single second with me, and honestly, what if it's because I'm a girl? I mean, you've seen what a monster her sister can be, what if she's just using him as cover because she's not ready for people to know that she's in a girl-girl relationship?"_

"_Nope, I don't care, she's an asshole," _Emmett shot again. _"You're not just some ordinary girl, you're Rosalie fucking Hale. Do you know how many girls would gladly come out of the closet for a chance to actually have a relationship with you?"_

"_Yeah but that's 'cause I'm hot and really rich, not because they know me, Em," _Rosalie sipped her glass of bourbon (whiskey, technically; but only because it was made Tennessee. Rosalie loved her glass of Jack on the rocks when life got shitty...) _"And seriously, how long can I keep clinging to the whole 'I'm Rosalie Hale so you better recognize' thing? I mean so what? I'm not sure how rational it is to continue to think that me being me somehow precludes Bella, or anyone else for that matter, from having to come to terms with the fact that they're fucking another girl."_

"_Yes it does!" _ Emmett swung his pool cue as he gestured wildly. _"You are different, you're special, and anyone that doesn't fall on their knees for you can go to hell. There is no way I am going to let this girl hurt you."_

Rosalie grabbed the cue from him before he broke something and patted his chest. _"Thank you, Emmett." _She smiled sadly. _"It means a great deal to me that you see me that way, but I'm afraid if I keep running around with that mindset, I'm never going to allow myself any kind of chance at a real relationship."_

"_Since when do you want a real relationship?" _Emmett scoffed, lining up for another shot.

"_Since Bella, dumbass."_

"_Well I still think she's a huge asshole and you should get rid of her. You could do better. And it's so obvious that she's in love with you that I just KNOW you are going to get dragged down into this emotional nightmare that's going to make you shut down because you won't be able to walk away but she'll still make it impossible for you guys to be happy together." _Emmett cursed as he missed the eight-ball by a hair's breadth, and look up at Rosalie with his own big, green (not nearly as brightly colored, but still beautiful) eyes. Rosalie could see genuine concern in them. She didn't want her baby brother to worry about her.

"_She's not in love with me, but don't worry, bud," _Rosalie re-assured him as she took another sip of her drink and hoped up to sit the edge of the table now that Emmett's turn was over. _"I can feel myself shutting down. Maybe I'll sleep with her one more time and then be done with it."_

"_Bullshit," _Emmett retorted.

"_Why?" _Rosalie questioned him as she re-tied the ribbon on the back of her black grosgrain and pearl Lanvin necklace. She was dressed down, pairing the ornate piece with a simple white tank and skinny black jeans, but her make-up was still perfect, and she had on pretty high python peep-toe slingbacks. Rosalie never left the house without looking hot, and tonight was no exception.

"_Because you won't be able to do 'one more time,' not with her. Look, unless she tells you tomorrow that she's madly in love with you and her boyfriend is history, I say forget about her." _ As Emmett spoke to her with more insight and rationale than she'd expected, Rosalie undid her pony tail and shook her long blonde hair out, stick straight for this evening's activities.

"_Yeah, I'm with him," _Jacob chimed in, attention back on the billiards game as he ambled back from the bar in ripped jeans and a faded dark green Dartmouth t-shirt that was just tight enough. He also wore green chucks (_"I'm on the Jets, I gotta represent" _he'd countered when Emmett teased him for color coordinating his outfit – not that Emmett himself wasn't also constantly guilty of that same infraction…) Jacob was dressed in sharp contrast to Emmett, who was in a custom-made slim fitting navy suit and a light pink shirt with a white collar. He proudly wore his favorite shoes: a pair of gorgeous made-to-measure chestnut double monk straps that Rosalie had given him on no particular occasion a few years back. She _loved_ to buy her brother presents. He made her proud, and she just couldn't help herself…

"_Oh look Rosalie, Mr. Wonderful is back…" _Emmett teased his friend and leaned against the pool table next to Rosalie, crossing his arms to mirror her own and smirking at Jake like his sister as the athlete returned from signing autographs for the wait staff.

"_Aw, I love that Hale smirk…" _Jacob winked at Rosalie and whacked Emmett on the arm with the thick end own of his pool cue. _"I have to say I agree with your brother on the whole Bella thing… Lose the zero and get with the hero, baby!" _He flexed his biceps for her and grinned wickedly.

"_Dude," _Emmett punched him in the shoulder. Jacob looked at him questioningly, arms still flexed. _"Are you seriously that gay? I mean like, for real, are you THAT gay Jake?"_

"_What, that was a sick line, dude" _He protested. _"Tell him, Rosalie, tell him how good that line just was."_

"_Oh yeah," _Rosalie giggled into her glass. _"That was so good my jeans are like, practically undoing themselves right now…" _

She held her hand out towards her brother expectantly, and Emmett groaned as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his silver money clip. _"You said it twice, now pay up, sucker," _Rosalie chided him as she beamed and Emmett begrudgingly handed over two fifty-dollar bills, one for each time he'd called Jacob 'gay' – he'd been trying to stop himself from using the term that way, and decided that he'd pay his sister every time he slipped.

"_Oooh, that's a hundred bucks you insensitive bastard…" _Jacob smacked him again with the pool cue as he continued to flex his right arm for Rosalie and kissed his bicep adoringly. Emmett smacked him back with his cue, and Rosalie shrieked and giggled as Jacob tried to hide behind her and Emmett yelled at him for using his beloved sister as a human shield. She continued to laugh as the two fraternity brothers traded insults and flexed for each other, making ridiculous faces.

###

But the distraction was only temporary. While the two boys play fought next to her, Rosalie's mind began to wander back to Bella. She wondered what she was doing right now. She wondered if she should call her. She wondered if Bella would know that Rosalie was hurt. If she would know that the beautiful blonde wasn't ever coming back, just only saying goodbye.

_One more time. _Rosalie perked up, more from the thought of getting to touch Bella again than the idea that it would be her last hurrah. _I'll just see her one more time…_

_###_

She pulled her iPhone out of her pocket and had begun to text Bella when lightning quick hands snatched it away.

"_Good reflexes, Black. You're like a fucking stealth assassin." _Emmett's voice boomed as he slapped his buddy on the back. Rosalie reached for the phone, but Jacob held it high over her head.

"_This is for your own good," _Emmett reprimanded her as he took the phone. Jake nodded heartily and held up his full pint of beer. Emmett made a snotty face at her as he dropped it in the glass. Rosalie narrowed her eyes and made her own face back.

"_Emmy, you motherfucker, I just got that!" _Jacob grabbed the blonde and threw her over his shoulders, and the two rowdy boys began to shout _"Shots, shots, shots" _as they marched to the bar. By the time Jacob had sat her on the edge of the sticky fixture, the entire crown was chanting along with them. She was pissed at them, but she just smirked at the crowd watching and rolled her annoyed green eyes before throwing back a few of the disgusting tequila shots that had magically appeared.

She wiped her mouth on the sleeve of Jacob's tee – the punishment hardly befitting the crime of placing her expensive black denim jeans on top of a filthy bar and peer-pressuring her into drinking tequila. Especially considering both Jacob AND Emmett knew about Rosalie's turbulent relationship with the evil Mexican worm…

###

Not three hours later, Emmett, Jacob, and Rosalie were all standing on top of the bar, dancing to a hysterical eighties cover band _en costume_ and pouring shots into patron's mouths, like a scene from a certain, especially cheesy movie. Rosalie had made fast friends with the bartenders already – one of them a chubby old Irish fellow with a bum knee and the other a boy she'd gone to Yale with who had been a total nerd and was trying to re-make himself as a stud.

Rosalie had made it her drunken, tequila-fueled mission to generate as many tips for the two guys as she could, and was currently embarrassing herself with an inappropriate (but crowd-pleasing) dance routine on top of the bar to "Addicted to Love" while Jacob and Emmett flipped bottles back and forth straight out of the movie "Cocktail" (they were forced to learn their now impressive bottle-handling skills during their particularly grueling pledge ship period at Dartmouth…) While they danced and laughed and goofed around, Rosalie kept trying to sneak Emmett or Jacob's phone's out of their pockets so she could drunkenly call Bella. Unfortunately, she found that the two times she was actually successful, she then couldn't remember what number to call.

"_I fucking love her!" _Rosalie screamed into her brother's ear over the roar of the crowd. She was _hammered._

"_I'm addicted to love, Emmy!" _She continued to scream as she gyrated to the music. Emmett drunkenly rolled his eyes.

"_Well she fucking loves you too, she told me!" _Emmett yelled back at her, but all Rosalie could hear between the volume of the crowd and her brother's own slurred speech was _"Wuhlshefuckinluvsutoo."_

"_What?" _She yelled back, trying to understand his garbled speech. Suddenly a hand grasped her leg from where she stood on the bar, and she bent down to speak to its owner, a younger male patron who was ready to tip her $300 to do a body shot. _"Fellas," _she yelled to her bartender buddies, who skittered over to the rowdy blonde model like eager puppies. _"Mama's about to make you some money!"_

###

Rosalie awoke with a throbbing head, a fuzzy memory, and a warm bottle of Gatorade that she'd spooned all night – an extremely poor replacement for her usual spooning partner. She wasn't sure why she'd woken up – it was nine in the morning but no one in the apartment had even gone to bed until about two hours earlier. Their drunken rampage that night had continued on to more clubs and bars than Rosalie cared to remember, and they'd been joined by Jasper and a few of the boys' other buddies soon after Rosalie had let some mild-mannered accountant suck tequila out of her belly button.

She soon realized why she'd awoken – there was shouting coming from the main room. _"Rosalie, Rosalie!" _She heard her brother's voice shouting outside her bedroom door. She grabbed her robe and threw it on, stumbling over last night's heels that she'd drunkenly thrown on the floor.

"_Oh man, you're getting the full-court press baby!" _Emmett shouted as soon as she opened the door. He was annoyingly energetic for someone that should have been passed out and drooling. Jacob, who had crashed on their couch, was up as well, and they were both laughing hysterically as two small delivery men struggled to get through their front door. _"You know what?" _Jacob snickered to Emmett. _"I think I might like this chick after all…"_

Emmett waved another florist's envelop around in front of her face, as her blurry eyes adjusted to the daylight. Her head was _killing_ her. Once again, her mouth dropped as soon as her eyes could focus.

There, placed down on the floor, was another HUGE arrangement of white flowers in a dark blue urn; an arrangement even more spectacular than the first. And as today was a Saturday, there was no way that Bella could have paid for this arrangement using a corporate card; it would have raised _way_ too many red flags.

Forget that her head was killing her; Rosalie was going to _kill_ Bella.

"_Oh my God, this girl is a total baller, you can't get an arrangement from this place for less than $800!" _Emmett bounced around the room gleefully. _He must be on drugs_, Rosalie mused.

"_Give me that," _She snatched the card from his hand.

_Dear Rosalie,_

_Please, please don't get rid of me. I can't take it. I need you. Just let me talk to you. I'll be at our bench in the park at midnight – I'll wait for you._

_Love,_

_Bella_

The last part of the note was barely legible, as the florist had clearly struggled to fit the entire message on the small card. Rosalie couldn't deny how incredibly thoughtful, and decidedly grand, Bella's gestures had been over the past two days.

But she also couldn't deny how incredibly stupid it was for Bella to spend that kind of money on her, and she regretted not answering her phone when Bella had begun to call it immediately after their argument, if for no reason other than stopping her from spending so much money like this.

Of course she would see Bella tonight, but she would cut her off at the pass; there was no way that she was going to let Bella wait for her in a public park at midnight, _especially_ on Halloween. She had to hand it to Bella, though. It was a pretty clever ploy – she knew how protective Rosalie was of her, and had crafted her plan accordingly. She'd even remembered that Rosalie had a charity auction/benefit to attend that ended at 11:30pm. Rosalie felt suddenly lovesick as her mind strayed to the beautiful brunette, and how thoughtful she was being. She didn't want to be lovesick. She just wanted to say goodbye and go away for a while.

"_Rosalie," _Emmett teased as he and Jacob bounced up and down and traded jabs back and forth like the annoying frat boys that they were. _"Rose-a-lie…"_

"_Jesus Christ you two, go back to bed weirdoes!" _Rosalie looked between them as she rolled her eyes and huffed.

She scooped up the heavy urn and, after removing its cellophane and paper wrappings, placed it on the left side of the console under her huge plasma. Yesterday's arrangement was on the right. She had to admit that they looked rather spectacular…

###

Rosalie pounded on the door at 11:15pm. She wasn't sure if Bella would be at a party or not, as it was Halloween, but she kept her fingers crossed. Thanks to Emmett's brothers-against-drunk-dialing stunt, she'd had to replace her phone that morning and she'd lost all her contacts in the process.

AND the little shit wouldn't give her Bella's number, forcing her to _"let Bella sweat it out, Rosalie, trust me…"_

She tapped her foot impatiently. She had left the auction well before it was over in order to get back to the apartments, much to the annoyance of some of the other junior committee members. But she didn't care; she was far more concerned that Bella would go wandering over to Carl Shurtz Park in the middle of the night.

Rosalie thought she heard shuffling from inside the apartment, and she knocked on the door again. She wasn't really sure what she was going to say or do; she just planned to go off of Bella's reactions. Okay, maybe she was flying by the seat of her pants a little bit. Or more like by the seat of the red Herve Leger band-aid dress that hugged her torso. She was still clutching a silver feathered mask she'd worn to the event – a masquerade theme. She hated masquerade themes. They were so uninspired.

She leaned against the side of the door frame, toned arms crossed, and heart beating faster than she would have liked.

Suddenly, the door opened. Rosalie startled a bit.

Bella stood; hand on the doorknob, in an oversized black v-neck and a baggy pair of grey sweats. And Rosalie's rubber flip-flops. Her eyes were swollen; cheeks streaked red from what Rosalie assumed were tears. Her gorgeous, chocolate irises glistened with moisture, glistening with specks of light from above that made them shimmer.

Rosalie began to speak, but nothing came out. She just stared at Bella. _Fuck me, how am I ever going to get over her? How am I going to do this? _She looked so beautiful to Rosalie in that moment, and so fragile, all thin arms and graceful neck and oversize clothes that draped off of her as if she was hanger in Rosalie's closet.

Bella looked absolutely heartbroken. And Rosalie's heart began to betray her.

"_I thought you were never going to talk to me again," _Bella whispered sadly. _"I was just about to get dressed and go to the park – did you get the flowers I sent?"_

Suddenly, Rosalie found her voice.

"_Yes Bella, and what the fuck were you thinking? You spent $3,000 on FLOWERS for me? And you were going to go to a fucking public park at MIDNIGHT on Halloween? You could have gotten killed! What if I didn't come?"_

"_I didn't think you would, actually…" _Bella's eyes began brimming again. _"I didn't really care if I got mugged or something, I just thought I'd try. And the flowers…" _She began to choke as sobs suddenly wracked her body. _"I thought you'd –sob- like them, -hic- you love blue –sob- blue and white –sob-, I found the –hic- florist that you used and I didn't –sob- care how much money they were I just…" _The small girl actually sat down on the hardwood floor and leaned against the door as she began to weep.

"_Oh fuck, there goes my fucking resolve," _Rosalie muttered under her breath, sure that Bella would never hear as she cried so hard. _Bella is crying._ Those tears were like kryptonite to her. _Fuck, Fuck, Fuck…_

"_Bella, sweetheart, no, they were incredible, don't cry" _Rosalie bent down in five inch black croc heels and grasped Bella's arms and legs, scooping the weeping brunette up in her arms. Her action seemed to only make Bella sob more. _"Shh, shh, its okay, its okay," _she tried to soothe the fragile girl.

"_I," _Bella gasped for air in order to form words, _"I –sob- was beginning to thi –sob- think I'd never see you again, and I –sob- I just can't –sob- live without you, Rose, -hic- I'll do anything, just please –sob – don't go anywhere."_

"_I'm right here, its okay, I'm right here" _Rosalie purred, bringing Bella into her bedroom and sitting down on her bed with the beautiful girl in her arms. Her heart absolutely melted every time she saw Bella cry, and she knew that it was clouding her judgment. She knew she needed to have some resolve, to have a backbone.

_Just one more time, _she mused. _One more time can't hurt. I'll just do this one more time…_

###

Rosalie tried to stay sane as she kissed her and Bella kissed her back; tried not to lose herself completely; tried to maintain some modicum of sanity amidst the sea of adrenaline that washed over her with every touch, every sigh, every gaze from the gorgeous girl beneath her. Bella cried into her lips, and Rosalie mentally grimaced. She couldn't hold out much longer, she couldn't keep control over this situation…

Because she could barely stand to be near this girl, this incredible girl that she was so taken with, and not be taken herself by the intensity of her emotions. Fuck it, she wanted to; no, she _needed _to be with this girl, no matter what. She needed to make sure that no one ever made Bella cry like this again. _My Bella_, she mentally claimed her.

Bella's lips trembled into their kisses, and Rosalie felt like hers might be trembling as well. Bella clung to her with a ferocity that the blonde had never before seen.

Rosalie kissed her tenderly, gently, but also urgently. Words were useless; the emotions being conveyed by the incredible power, the unbelievable connection they both felt when they kissed – those emotions said enough. Bella was exhausted; that much Rosalie could easily tell. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. Rosalie held the weary body that grasped her so tightly as she kissed and stroked her, trying to tell herself that it was just this '_one more time,' _trying for once to will her mind to actually vacillate between loving Bella and not caring, as she was currently failing so miserably to do.

She was failing, because all she could feel was this incredible warmth in her heart. It was love, it had to be. It was love or she was dying – she wasn't sure about that one yet. It just had to be something that powerful. It was new, and it was even worse and more intense. And it just got worse with every second that the beautiful, fragile girl clung to her. _Fuck, what is this? _Rosalie didn't know what to look for, what to expect to feel, but something about this night, something about the feelings that Bella's haunting eyes and weeping words had stirred in her; something was so incredibly different. Like love times one thousand. Rosalie's body felt heavy, full of some liquid previously unknown to her. It was weird. It was terrifying. It was awesome. _Oh fuck, this really is happening to me…_

Rosalie knew in that moment, more than any other that had ever passed, that she was unreasonably and now absolutely inexorably in-love with Bella. And she would probably never be able to walk away…

TBC

###

A/N: Okay so now we're at the point where the first three chapters of the story began. They're a continuation of this night. If you want to go back and read them, go for it. The pace will be weird, and some stuff in the first three chapters will probably be pretty redundant, but I wrote those really never intending to get into a huge story. I apologize for this chapter being awfully long, and I'm sorry that the girls weren't really together for most of it. I just felt like I needed to explain what Rose had been thinking for the past two weeks in order to lead up to the first three chapters without total confusion. Anyway, I hope its okay. I'm going to post again tomorrow, and that post will pick up right where chapter three ends (like _right_ there, when Bella has just started to um, do something to Rose…)


	22. Chapter 22

Ownership: Nothing but the story

A/N: This chapter picks up right where Chapter 3 ends, so you might want to read the last few lines of chapter 3 first just to ground yourself… I know I said I'd post this tomorrow (11/11), since I just posted chapter 21 this afternoon, but I hated that last chapter so much that I just want to get this one out ASAP to make up for it, plus I feel like this gives the whole story since the first Bella/Rosalie fight a little bit more closure. Sorry for the typos…

_###_

"_Bella," _Rosalie winced a little. _"Can you, um, maybe just do one or two for a while, you're hurting me a little bit…" _She felt completely embarrassed. This was the first time she was letting Bella really touch her; letting her really be inside of her and feel her. There had been moments before, but Rosalie had always stopped them. She wasn't ready. There was something about the intimacy; the vulnerability of being on her back and letting Bella be inside of her with own fingers; there was something about it that had always made Rosalie really uncomfortable.

But tonight she was ready. She was finally letting go.

"_Oh shit," _Bella breathed. _"I'm so sorry, I just got so carried away and…"_

"_No, it's okay just um," _She moaned slightly as Bella pulled out of her quickly and began to stroke her up and down. Rosalie flipped them over easily, putting herself back on top of the gorgeous brunette and running her fingers through her own long pale, golden hair.

"_God, my first time getting to really do this to you and I act like some overeager high school boy…" _Bella groaned as she buried her head in Rosalie's neck. No longer embarrassed, the gorgeous blonde started to chuckle. She could feel Bella's lips turn into a smile as they brushed gently against her neck. _"What, don't laugh at me!"_

Rosalie couldn't help it. Bella's little comments were just so perfectly timed; always adding levity to a situation when it was most necessary. She chuckled more. _"Ugh, stop laughing at me, you're not supposed to laugh during sex…" _ The muffled whine and accompanying groan only made her laugh harder. Bella popped her head up. _"What is so funny?" _She huffed indignantly.

"_Oh my God Bella…" _Tears began to stream down Rosalie's cheeks as she started to laugh loudly, and she covered her own mouth to muffle the sound, as it was probably three or four in the morning at this point. Neither girl was tired.

Bella looked cross – like an angry little baby animal. _"It's just, God that just reminded me a lot of my real first time, I mean this with you is like a big deal for me and…" _Rosalie squirmed as she giggled. "…_And you were so cute and fumbling and oh my God, that fucking hurt and –"_

"_Oh great, I HURT you too?" _Bella was as red as a little cherry tomato. _"I'm so embarrassed, stop laughing, I'm sorry…" _She was visibly flustered now. Rosalie calmed herself and took Bella's face in her hands.

"_No, I'm sorry I'm laughing," _she smiled affectionately and pecked Bella's nose. _"Don't be embarrassed, I would SO much rather have my first time doing this with you be the way it is right now than like, you being all slick and talking dirty and fucking my brains out or something."_

"_Shut up…"_

"_No, I'm serious," _Rosalie stroked her cheeks, her gaze relaxed. _"I like you like this. And we're not stopping or anything, just understand that I actually need you to be like, the sweet, tender, funny Bella right now, not the Bella who made it impossible for me to walk straight for days after that night in Jasper's room. Not that I don't like her too, I mean, she was awesome. Like, really amazing." _Rosalie sighed dreamily as she thought back to that evening, allowing herself to remember only the good parts. "_But, um for right now I just want to be with you and not have it be some big thing, you know?"_

Bella broke out in a grin and nodded. _"Okay Rosie, can I kiss you now?" _Rosalie was actually happy to hear Bella's little nickname for her again. She loved how easily Bella could adapt to her moods; how it strangely felt like Bella might actually understand her.

"_Yes, Thumper, you've earned the right to do whatever you want with me…"_

###

The mirth in the air lasted all of five minutes as the two beautiful girls kissed and joked with each other before again it grew thick as their mutual desire enveloped the room. Bella began to kiss Rosalie deeper and with more passion as she pulled the blonde down into her. Their tongues rubbed together sensually as their innate sense of timing kicked in, and they resumed the slow, intentional movements that had characterized the night.

Rosalie's breath caught in her throat as Bella rolled them over gently and hovered above her. _"Are you okay?" _She whispered to her blonde with care in her voice as she breathed heavily on her. She knew how hard it was for Rosalie to be on her back, and to be touched like this. Rosalie looked up with big, liquid green eyes, vulnerability again painting her features. She willed herself to stay in the moment, to just focus on the incredible girl on top of her and the way it felt to be held by such slender, beautiful arms.

Bella trailed one hand down to her center, instinctively seeming to know to keep their eyes locked and faces close. She looked down at Rosalie adoringly, whispering _"are you comfortable" _the way a someone would during their lover's first time. The fingers that trailed up and down her slit sent electric pulses to every nerve in her willowy body as Rosalie took slow, calming breaths.

"_Yeah," _she whispered back, giving Bella permission to continue.

Bella was so gentle, so tentative as she slowly inserted one finger into the blonde, that Rosalie felt like it truly was her first time. The way a first time should be. She shuddered at the feeling of the long digit pressing within her. Bella brushed their lips together, kissing her slowly as she began to move in and out, pulling back after each delicate kiss to check her eyes for any signs of discomfort. _"You are so beautiful, Rose." _She breathed. _"So, so beautiful." _Rosalie bit her lip, reacting to the strange, slow pulses of warmth and energy that washed over her at a lazy pace. She wasn't used to this feeling happening to her; she knew fast and hot, but not slow and warm. She felt as vulnerable as a young teen being made love to for the very first time.

_Just stay in the moment, just stay with her, _she reminded herself as she willed all other thoughts away. Bella looked utterly breathtaking on top of her, lips parted and swollen, lean, lightly muscled body and small, perfect breasts brushing against her own as she moved in measured, deliberate motion. _"Does this feel good, Rose?" _

"_Yes," _Rosalie exhaled, feeling less and less helpless under the caring, careful movements of the sensitive brunette. Bella met her eyes again, and Rosalie felt completely lost in the now dark mahogany irises that gazed tenderly into her own, silently asking again for permission as Rosalie felt a second finger at her entrance. She responded by pulling Bella back down into another kiss, and nodding into her lips as she traced their length with the tip of her tongue. Bella exhaled into her mouth, sending warmth coursing Rosalie's veins as she welcomed Rosalie's tongue with her own. She penetrated her carefully and began to thrust two fingers with gentle but purposeful motion deep into the blonde as her tongue rubbed against hers rhythmically.

"_This feels so good, Rosalie. My heart feels so full right now. You're so soft…" _Bella's whisper trailed off as two of Rosalie's long, manicured digits found her own folds and began to caress them in time. Rosalie entered her, and mimicked Bella's cadenced but unhurried movements with her own. The smaller girl began to moan into her mouth. Her left arm wrapped around Rosalie's back and held her close as she kissed her deeply, but now somewhat desperately. Rosalie had been trailing her fingers in circles over Bella's back and arms, but as their pace quickened and she herself began to moan breathily, her arm soon found purchase on Bella's back as well.

The two lovers clung tightly to each other, kissing and stroking and moving deeply within as they drew closer and closer to bliss.

It felt amazing, but Rosalie still had to fight desperately to keep her mind from wandering.

_###_

"_I think I'm in love with you." _Bella's words continued to reverberate in Rosalie's head. She'd pushed forward, finishing Bella off and letting the slender brunette finish her off as well in almost equal time, but try as she might, she couldn't stop those words from playing over and over again in her mind. They were long overdue – Rosalie knew this. She figured that they had probably been in love for months; both of them. When they were alone, they were in love; acting and holding and touching each other in a way that only those deeply in love could. Rosalie wasn't blind to that now; she knew.

But they weren't always alone. _Because sometimes Bella is busy, _Rosalie mused bitterly._ Busy. With her boyfriend. _Rosalie wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up the charade of pretending like she didn't care. She figured that she could hold it together for three, maybe four more weeks at the maximum before she snapped. It wouldn't be pretty. It was so easy for Rosalie to pretend that he didn't exist when they were alone together; it was actually too easy. She'd honed her ability to repress any kind of emotions that pertained to him. Fear, jealousy, resentment, rejection; when it was just Rosalie and Bella, she could just shut them off like a valve on a fire hydrant. Moments with Bella were just so good that staying in them wasn't hard, despite all of her conflicting emotions. Especially tonight.

But just like a fire hydrant, when Rosalie was alone those feelings absolutely _flooded_ her. She'd struggled admirably to regulate the flow, but she found that with each passing day it was getting more difficult. There was no middle ground; she was either blissfully happy or so miserable she could die. She was a predator, nothing could touch her, no one could hurt her. Then she was prey, desperate for Bella and will to do anything, making herself vulnerable to everything. Happy, miserable; predator, prey, on and off, on an off, sometimes she could go through the cycle multiple times during a single conversation, even during a single kiss. But she knew that it wouldn't be long before the hydrant would burst open, and after tonight she was sure she'd probably resemble something of an actual water main break as she pictured herself in a puddle on the floor of Bella's bedroom after _begging _her to leave her boyfriend. Predator or prey, she was no longer able to walk away.

Rosalie shuddered at the image of herself sobbing as Bella rejected her. Bella would probably think she'd completely lost her mind; after months of feigned indifference, her (now imminent) outburst _would_ kind of seem a little out of left field. Since Bella seemed to have clearly missed all of the subtext from their argument on Friday. Or not-so-subtext, if that was a word. Either way, Bella had missed it.

_Yup,_ Rosalie conceded. _She'll definitely think I'm crazy. _She chuckled aloud as she imagined explaining to the family lawyer why exactly a 5'6 brunette from Florida had filed a restraining order against her. _That_ would be an interesting conversation considering their lawyer was about 84 years old and still referred to black people as "colored" _without_ being intentionally derogatory. She doubted he even knew what bisexual even meant. _Maybe I'll tell him about the time in the Lexus_, she thought. _I mean, she did kind of attack me; maybe I can counter sue or at least get the restraining order lifted so I can legally sneak into her bedroom and cry while I watch her sleep…_

Rosalie tried to pull herself back from her momentary digression. Barring a little drug-fueled weeping the other night (justified away in her mind by the copious amounts of chemicals that had gone up her nose), she hadn't cried in probably ten years, but she had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to make that claim for much longer.

And while a restraining order sounded a bit too theatrical, she was fairly certain the beautiful girl wouldn't be exactly comfortable after Rosalie confessed that without Bella she kind of wanted to die.

Although God knows Rosalie wouldn't even be able to look at Bella herself after Bella gently told her that she really did love her, but she just loved Edward more because he was a man and being with her just wasn't worth it. But she was really sorry. So the restraining order wouldn't be necessary, because Rosalie would make sure she never saw Bella ever again.

If the day they went to Coney Island and first kissed; if that day someone had told Rosalie Hale that in three months she'd be mentally preparing herself to get rejected after she asked Bella to dump her boyfriend for her, Rosalie would have laughed in their face. And then, upon realizing they were serious, she would have probably thrown herself off the subway platform and onto the third rail. She would have literally rather died than subject herself to that kind of humiliation. And pain.

And yet here she was, three months later, now hovering over the beautiful brunette who'd said less than an hour ago that she was in love with her, and Rosalie was doing just that; trying to brace herself for the fast approaching day where she couldn't withhold her own feelings from Bella anymore. And even though she was roughly eighty percent certain that the girl would never leave her boyfriend for her, Rosalie knew that actually at some point she was just going to lose it and ask anyway.

Because Rosalie thought that there just might be a tiny chance that Bella could say yes. She had, after all, just told Rosalie that she was in love with her.

But Rosalie was scared. In her life, the people that loved her always hurt her, abandoning her or deserving to be abandoned, whether or not that was their intention. Emmett was the only exception.

This girl beneath her was different, though, and deep down she knew that too. And Rosalie loved her. Bella was worth taking a chance. If there was even a shred of hope that she might actually chose to be with her, then Rosalie vowed to cling to it. If she had to actually show her emotions for once in her life, so be it. And risk getting her heart completely broken. _Risk and reward,_ she mused. _God who says that? I've date way too many guys in finance…_

As frightened as she was, and as much as she wanted to give in to the voice in her head that told her she was stronger and tougher and more in control than the emotions the coursed through her – Rosalie couldn't give into that voice any longer. The voice was a frightened person inside of her, a devil-on-her-shoulder; she'd spent her whole life listening to it and it had gotten her nowhere. Before Bella she was disenchanted, and hopeless, and alone. And with Bella she felt full, and worthy, and a part of something. The girl gave her hope, made her feel wanted. But not nearly as much as she wanted her – Rosalie still wanted Bella, God how she still wanted Bella despite how much the smaller girl so clearly wanted and needed her back. Her need made Rosalie strong instead of weak; her want turned Rosalie on instead of off, as the want of countless others had done before.

As Bella lay beneath her, exhausted and fighting the sleep that the aftermath of each orgasm begged for – despite this, Rosalie marveled at how Bella managed to keep her gaze; how she struggled to stay focused on the girl above her, looking up at Rosalie like she mattered more than anything. _Why can't I reciprocate? _Rosalie wondered to herself. _Why can't I love her back? What can possibly be holding me back from saying the same thing? _Rosalie laughed at herself, once again. There was _nothing_. Nothing but her stupid, tired, useless fear. Fear that was so draining, and exhausting, and unnecessary.

_Fuck it,_ Rosalie thought to herself. She had nothing to lose but the beautiful girl beneath her, and everything to gain.

###

She ran a delicate finger down Bella's jawbone, pushing her chin up and forcing her out of a half-sleep, despite her gorgeous chocolate eyes still being partially open. _"Sorry," _Bella mumbled as she roused herself. _"You wear me out, Rose, I can't help if I drift off a little afterwards." _

"_Bella" _Rosalie countered. _"You didn't drift off. You never broke my gaze." _Bella smiled at this, and wrapped her arms around Rosalie's neck. _"Well considering that you're the last thing I want to see before I fall asleep, I guess that makes sense. I, um, I have to tell you something, Rose…" _Bella's voice was drowsy from half-sleep, but her tone was still nervous.

Bella was nervous. And so Rosalie's stomach dropped. Rosalie was afraid.

"_What?" _The anxious blonde said as gently as she could. _Fuck, fuck, fuck…_

"_Um," _Bella bit her lip as she paused and took a deep breath. "_I broke up with Edward, Rose," _she exhaled. "_I know we never talk about him but I just want you to know. It's over. " _

Bella's words hit Rosalie right in the chest, and the feelings they illicited made Rosalie dizzy. _WHAT THE FUCK? _She thought._ WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? _Rosalie was sure she couldn't have heard Bella correctly. Maybe she'd imagined it. Maybe she had fallen asleep without realizing it and this was simply a dream. She dug a nail into her own palm. It hurt. So she wasn't asleep…

Rosalie couldn't help herself; she had to make sure she hadn't just heard that incorrectly. _"Wait, Bella, you were kind of mumbling there, what did you say?"_

Bella smiled nervously. _"I said I broke up with Edward. For you, I mean, um, obviously. I know that was a little random, I just didn't know how to tell you, so I kind of blurted it." _

Rosalie wished that her smile wouldn't betray her, but it did. She felt herself grinning wider than she'd possibly ever grinned. Bella giggled and kissed her chin. _"So I take it you're happy?" _Rosalie nodded, beaming. She was grinning like an idiot. And feeling like an idiot, because she was so happy that she'd literally been rendered speechless.

_This is the time,_ she thought to herself as she felt Bella's fingers lovingly caress her neck. _I have to just be brave and do this. Just say it, asshole. Say 'I love you.' Say it! Fucking say it! _She mentally compelled herself to speak, and then finally parted her lips to convey the words to Bella that reflected what she understood to be so true in her heart.

But Bella cut her off, rubbing her thumb slowly down Rosalie's spine as she whispered _"I love you" _and looked deeply in her eyes. A flood of emotion washed over Rosalie; emotion she didn't even know she had, and she swore she might have actually shed a tear as she finally found the courage to give herself over.

"_I, um… me too, Bella." _She whispered back. She hadn't been able to say it, but it was damn close. She readied herself to continue before fear could stop her.

But the beautiful girl below her beat her to it. _Again._

"_I want to be with you, Rosalie, did you know that?" _Bella didn't wait for Rosalie's answer; she pressed onward. _"I want to be with you forever, not just now. I don't want you to be with anyone else; I promise you that I'll never stop trying until I make you happy, I know I can make you happier than anyone else ever could."_

"_You kind of already do," _Rosalie whispered.

Bella looked at her tentatively, her breath held and eyes unreadable. _"I'm so in love with you, Rosalie. And I think I'll always be." _She exhaled.

Rosalie bit her lip as she watched the girl; her arms felt suddenly so weak that she was unsure how much longer they could hold her up. _"Actually, I know I'll always be in love with you. I want to be with you, Rose. Please say that you want to be with me too?" _

Rosalie drew her teeth into the soft flesh of her lower lip, terrified at what Bella had just said. But good terrified.

Bella stayed still as Rosalie searched for the right words. She watched as Rosalie took in a deep, shaky breath, and she waited. Rosalie Hale, uncompromising, unforgiving, unobtainable – _that _Rosalie Hale suddenly felt like someone else could make her feel whole; could be with her, together as she faced a future that she had never imagined. Bella Swan had just made _that_ Rosalie Hale feel _really, really _happy.

"_Yes," _Rosalie whispered. _"I um, I do. Want to be with you too, I mean." _

But fear suddenly gripped her. She couldn't read Bella's expression at all. Had she ruined it by not being able to tell her that 'I love you' back? Not an hour earlier, she thought that her beautiful Bella was with someone else – she couldn't just say it back, it was still too much for her, but she'd gotten close enough, hadn't she? But was 'I love you' what Bella needed? Her stomach dropped as she saw a tear run down the beautiful girl's flushed cheek. _Oh fuck, I fucked up, I fucked up, shit…_

"_Rosalie," _Bella breathed, and Rosalie stilled herself for the impending rejection like a soldier in the gallows waiting for the blade to fall.

But the blade didn't fall. Instead relief washed over her as she felt the soft lips she'd come to crave press against her own. Bella pulled away and looked at her intently, smiling. Rosalie caught the solitary tear with her thumb and brought it to her own swollen lips. _"Rosalie, I don't ever want to love anyone like I love you. I mean it." _Bella exhaled and Rosalie smiled back at her bravely. _"And I've wanted to be with you and only you since the day we met." _With the beautiful brunette's final omission, Rosalie pulled her as close as she possibly could, tucking Bella into her and brushing her lips across her forehead.

"_Me too."_

###

TBC

Forgot to say thank you for the reviews.


	23. Chapter 23

Ownership – Only the story

A/N: This one's short and sweet, and poorly edited – I apologize in advance, I just wanted to publish it before I went out for the night. This weekend is going to be a little crazy so I probably won't be able to update again until Monday. I love your reviews – they're why I'm churning this out so fast. I can't believe how motivating they are. Anyway, no drama in this chapter, just more of Bella making things right in her own way…

###

Rosalie opened her eyes slowly, feeling somewhat overheated from the body that encircled hers, but not uncomfortably so. She had been in that weird early morning state where one drifts in and out of wakefulness and dreams for the past hour, and she was finally coming out of it.

During her dream laden morning, she'd still awoken on and off long enough to know where she was – in Bella's room, and she knew how she was sleeping – her head nestled into Bella's neck, left arm under Bella's back and right arm tucked into her body, palm flat and resting on the delicate skin that covered the smaller girl's graceful collarbone. In her drowsy, dreaming-then-awake-but-then-dreaming-again state, she didn't mind that she snuggled into the brunette deeply, clinging to her as she lay practically on top of her. Her half-conscious mind felt safe and content to have Bella hold her, and she wasn't alert enough to register how odd it was that she'd somehow ended up being the one that was held. Slender arms encircled her, one holding her lower back, and the other curved around her shoulder with fingers threaded deeply within her own long blonde hair. She'd sleepily registered the soft breaths that gently teased her locks as lips not her own pressed against her head even as their owner slept. She'd felt sated, whole, and warm as her soft skin pressed into the even softer skin of the girl beneath and around her, connecting at every point possible, with no cloth or linen there to impede their union. Lean legs, not as long as her own, tangled and wrapped around her, and the steady rise and fall of the swell of small, supple breasts that pressed against her right arm from beneath had lulled Rosalie in and out of the most incredible dream that morning.

The gorgeous, troubled blonde dreamt constantly, rarely able to recall a night without one, and the last hour of her sleep was usually the time when her dreams (as she could remember them) were the most vivid and obscure. She'd always marveled at friends who would describe how they'd dreamt they were being chased by a monster, or meeting their favorite celebrity, or drowning in their backyard pool. Rosalie had never, ever, ever had a dream that simple. Her dreams were bizarre, intense, complicated, and the product of an imagination that was clearly developed beyond the point of normalcy. She was frequently able to dream lucidly, and used her morning dreams as a way to release the aggression and darkness that lay within her, attacking, cutting, strangling, beating, and frequently killing whomever she could find that her mysterious mind deemed worthy during those slumbering imaginings. It helped her during the days – she welcomed the release she could find in sleep.

But this morning she had dreamt only of Bella. Of how it felt to be held in her arms. She heard whisperings of promises of the future, and of love and devotion, and in her dreams she had no fear of whispering them back.

As she awoke for good, she was struck by how innocent and uncomplicated the dream had been.

They had been laying in the softest, purest, utterly endless mass of silky cotton linen, on top of the most gentle bed of feathers that seemed to go on forever, and half covered by the finest duvet. The bed had gone on and on, bigger than any bed found in reality, but still Rosalie knew that it had and end point and that it lay on top of the water in the bay in Maine. She felt small waves bringing their bodies imperceptibly closer as Bella murmured to her about how long their lives would be, and everything that they'd do, and how Rosalie made her feel. And as the warm sun beat down on them, making it difficult for Rosalie to see anything but the gorgeous, glowing body beneath her, Rosalie told her of the life she would give her, and the depth of the emotions she felt for her, and how true her love for the beautiful brunette was.

Every time Rosalie would awake from the dream, she would cuddle into Bella more tightly and will herself back, and suddenly they would again be in that place, floating on the sea, swathed in soft linens. Bella's hair spread out all around her, and she looked like an angel, but when Rosalie asked her if she was dead, she said no, that she would never die without her, and Rosalie had cried again. But Bella had whispered in her ear that she was different, that she'd never leave her. Rosalie could see people around her, people that meant everything to Rosalie, and they'd nodded, and Rosalie didn't care that they could see her breasts pressed against the body beneath her, because she knew that the way the two of them looked as they lay together was more beautiful than anything else in the world. Bella had continued to hold her, and whisper her love for her, and promise her a life together, and Rosalie just let herself be pulled in deeper.

She knew it was only her dream and therefore it did not matter that she cried, so she wept into Bella as she let the girl comfort her and caress her. Twice when she woke up, Rosalie had wondered if she'd actually been crying, but the lull of sleep was still strong, and each time she allowed it to pull her back to that place. She was lucid enough that as soon as she realized she was back in the bed on the ocean, she would kiss Bella and tell her how much she loved her, over and over, with no fear.

When she did finally start to wake for good, the first few moments she simply luxuriated in the feel of the girl holding her, not conscious enough yet for rational thought, just more and more aware of how hot she was in the bed, but that the heat came from Bella so it was okay. She murmured wordlessly and nuzzled into the girl's neck even more, letting her lips graze her skin lightly, not enough to wake her, but just to feel.

But as she became more conscious, embarrassment took control, and she was ashamed that she'd woken up being held by Bella, when it was she who should have been holding her gorgeous, slumbering brunette. Her dream had made her uncomfortable, because she didn't like have to face her deepest desires, and she didn't like to confront how much she wanted Bella to care for her and hold her and nurture her. No, in real life, she would be the one to care for Bella. She was strong, and smart, and capable. And that was what Bella loved; not the secret, desperately weak and lonely Rosalie who appeared only in sleep. Nor the dark, angry Rosalie who also haunted her dreams.

Rosalie moved slowly to untangle herself from Bella's sleeping form, and was able to slip away and pad to the bathroom without disturbing her. She brushed her teeth quietly, and listened for any sound from the rest of the apartment. Luckily, each girl who lived there was an incredibly late sleeper, and it was only eight in the morning. Rosalie dried her mouth and tip toed back into Bella's room. She knew where her clothes were, and she knew that she could leave, but she didn't want to. She wanted to wake up next to her. She knew Bella wanted this and she was ready; she wanted it to. So she expertly maneuvered herself back under the covers without any disruption, and gently gathered Bella into her arms, holding her closely in the manner she was much more comfortable with. Bella stirred enough to snuggle in and grasp her hair, but did not wake. Rosalie was surprised, as she listened to gentle breaths and felt the rise and fall of her soft flesh, that suddenly she felt the pull of sleep as well. She closed her eyes and inhaled Bella's faint citrus scent, burying her nose into the back of Bella's neck from behind her as she drifted back to sleep.

###

The feel of Bella's soft, slender body moving against her own brought Rosalie back into the world, but she did not move and kept her breathing even, feigning sleep as she felt Bella gently detach herself from the blonde. Bella sat up on the edge of the bed, and Rosalie could feel dark eyes upon her. An almost imperceptible whisper reached her ears, as Bella hushed _"You're so beautiful. I don't know why you've picked me, but I won't doubt it anymore. I only hope that one day you'll love me as much as I love you." _

As soon as she head the click of the door and knew that Bella was in the bathroom, she allowed a small smile to grace her features, the warmth of the girl's words weighing deliciously on her heart.

She got out of bed and snuck over to the bathroom door. Inside, she could hear the sink running and the faint sound of Bella's toothbrush. With practiced stealth, she slowly eased the door open and slipped in.

Bella gasped and a small line of toothpaste goo trickled from her lips as she felt Rosalie' arms encircle her waist from behind.

"_Rosalie, you scared me," _she whispered. _"What are you doing?"_

Rosalie merely pressed into her more and let her chin rest on Bella's shoulder. _"You told me you only wanted to brush your teeth like this from now on…" _She purred softly into a delicate ear. _"I'm just following orders."_

Bella broke out into a grin, even more toothpaste dribbling out of her mouth. Rosalie chuckled and grinned as well. She reached behind her and groped for a washcloth, luckily grabbing one on the first try. She peppered Bella's graceful neck with soft kisses as she reached up under the smaller girl's arms and wet the cloth under the warm running water. She felt Bell gasp as she looked up and caught those gorgeous, endless chocolate eyes with her own, and realized that Bella had been staring at her, toothbrush still in her mouth but hand no longer moving it. Rosalie could see how very green her own eyes were by their reflection in the mirror, and she was grateful for her beauty, as that beauty seemed to entrance Bella at this moment. Rosalie brought the damp cloth up to Bella's chin and gingerly wiped the stream of white paste off. Bella was staring deeply at her through their reflection and Rosalie met her stare, her own eyes twinkling mischeviously as she enclosed the hand that held Bella's toothbrush with her own and began to move it back and forth. _"I didn't realize this was part of the deal, Bella," _she purred as she concentrated on moving the limp appendage. Bella seemed caught in her stare, so Rosalie pulled the brush out of her mouth and swiped it against her nose.

"_Rose!" _Bella snapped out of her trance. _"You're so mean to me!"_

"_Am not," _Rosalie retorted as she wiped Bella's perfect little nose. _"Not to sound cheesy, but where did you go just then?"_

"_Huh?" _Bella breathed, looking confused.

"_Bella, I had to brush your teeth for you – you were totally in a daze." _Rosalie smiled at her affectionately.

"_It's nothing, um I just," _Bella paused and looked down at the sink, not meeting Rosalie's eyes as she continued. _"Don't yell at me, it's just I think you're so incredible, and God you're just so unbelievably beautiful, that I can't believe I get to stand here naked while you hold me. It just seems surreal."_

"_Bella," _Rosalie breathed as she lifted the girl's chin with two elegant fingers and brought it up to again meet her eyes in their reflection. _"You just have to trust me when I tell you that I feel the exact same way about you." _She pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot behind Bella's ear.

"_Are you up because you're getting ready to leave?" _Bella asked nervously. Rosalie was glad she'd spit her toothpaste out so she was no longer drooling, although she had to admit that it had been pretty adorable. The girl was _so_ endearing.

"_No, no, let's go back to bed…"_ Rosalie reassured her. Bella took the washcloth from her hand and wiped her own mouth before turning around and hugging Rosalie tightly as she rotated them and began to walk backwards. _"You just love walking like this, don't you?" _Rosalie teased.

"_You know how I feel about your naked, stripper body…" _Bella teased back, her voice muffled.

"_Oh great, I'm a stripper now? I thought porno was bad enough…" _Rosalie grabbed her ass and lifted her so that Bella straddled her waist. Bella giggled and put her face between Rosalie's firm breasts. _"Oh great, are we motor boating again?" _Bella continued to giggle as she made the appropriate noises and rapidly shook her head back and forth while Rosalie carried them back into her bedroom and shut the door.

She had wanted to just lay with Bella and talk, but the feel of the girl's warm center pressed against her stomach was sending her brain a different message altogether. Rosalie sighed as she felt her own core start to tense, and the sigh turned into a moan as Bella ground into her and she felt her wetness. _"Oh fuck, Bella, you are going to be the death of me…" _Bella just giggled some more, having ceased her motorboating and now had very much affixed herself to Rosalie's sculpted collarbone, still giggling as she sucked the soft skin beneath her full lips.

Rosalie threw her down on the bed so that her hips lay right at the edge and kissed her deeply, driving her thigh into her as their tongues met. But soon she abandoned her post as the need to taste Bella overpowered her. Bella began to groan as the gorgeous blonde kissed down her chest and dove into her hot center, throwing the brunette's legs over her shoulders and kneading her breasts sensually as she kneeled down and began to kiss and suck and thrust into the once place where Bella needed her the most.

###

Fifteen minutes and three successive orgasms later, Bella lay on her back, shiny auburn hair splayed messily on the pillow that cradled her head, panting. Rosalie lay on her side, propped up by her arm, watching the beautiful girl in awe as she came down from her high. Bella's pale skin was flushed pink, and she bit her swollen lip over and over in a way that shot tiny bolts of electricity through Rosalie's body.

Rosalie trailed her fingers lazily up and down Bella's torso, tracing each soft outline of her ribcage, circling the small mounds of her breasts, and running up and down her stomach. Bella's body was so utterly delicious, so perfect for her that she could scarcely imagine that the girl was real, much less imagine that this beautiful creature next to her actually loved her. As Bella lay there, breathing heavily, Rosalie tried to play the girl's words again and again in her head. She'd wished she'd had a voice recorder so she could have captured them, because all too easily she'd forgotten much of what she said. But she remembered the gist of it; her heart remembered their meaning, and Rosalie cherished the way Bella's words made her feel.

"_How are you so fucking good at that, Rose?" _ Bella panted, finding Rosalie's eyes with her own.

"_I like to be good at everything I do," _Rosalie purred seductively as her fingers circled Bella's left nipple and danced up to her collarbone.

"_Ugh," _Bella groaned and brought her hands up to hide her face. _"I don't want to think about how you practiced."_

"_You know you're the first girl I've ever let touch me the way you did last night," _Rosalie spoke shyly, causing Bella to drop her hands and turn to her.

"_Really?" _She breathed.

"_Yeah, I've haven't really felt comfortable letting anyone do that, and when I did it was just a few different guys when I was a teen." _Rosalie suddenly wasn't afraid to look at Bella and held her gaze, surprised by her own ability to speak so candidly.

"_Why me?" _Bella caught her hand and brought it to rest on her heart, hold it tightly.

"_Because you're different, of course," _Rosalie whispered, but in a tone that conveyed that this was the most obvious reason in the world. _"I feel differently for you than I've ever felt for anyone. I trust you. And last night, I wanted you to touch me like that."_

"_You can trust me, Rose," _Bella spoke tenderly as she brought Rosalie's fingers to her lips and kissed them. _"I'm so sorry for what I did."_

"_Bella, it's okay, you don't-"_

"_No," _Bella cut her off. _"I do. I was a coward. I hadn't even been with him since June, you know, like that, but I was afraid to let him go, because I always thought that you'd let me go."_

Rosalie sighed; her heart felt strange, over-active. But she wasn't upset. _"I'll never let you go, Bella. I promise." _She smiled down at her gorgeous girl adoringly. Bella smiled back at her shyly, but Rosalie could tell she was doubtful.

"_I'm sorry Rose, I'm not asking you to explain yourself, just know that I don't understand what you see in me."_

"_I know, because you're crazy," _Rosalie grinned and leaned down to peck her nose.

"_I'm not afraid to be with you, but I'm afraid of what my family will say. They won't approve." _Bella's eyes were scared. _"I can understand if you don't want to be with me now that you know that."_

"_Bella, that doesn't change anything," _Rosalie breathed, looking down at her with intensity. _"I should be the one saying that I'll understand if you don't want to be with me."_

"_No, no, no," _Bella's voice got louder, more desperate. _"Rosalie, I don't care if they never talk to me again. I need you. You're more important to me. I'd just really like to find a way not to have to chose, because if I did have to, I'd chose you."_

"_I'll never let you do that," _Rosalie's eyes were sad; her heart heavy as she continued. _"Family is important, it really is. I'd never ask you to pick me over them. But we don't have to deal with that anytime soon, we can keep this a secret as long as you want, okay?" _She tried to smile reassuringly, but was worried that she looked insincere.

"_I just, I want to be able to brag to everyone that you're with me, I don't want to hide," _Bella spoke confidently, and Rosalie couldn't help but look down as a shy smile snuck up on her. _"You're really clever though, I know you are. You know people, like, better than anyone, and I've seen you manipulate the shit out of a wide variety of them…"_

"_What's your point?" _Rosalie willed herself to not get defensive.

"_My point is that with your help, I'm sure we can find a way to tell my parents and my family without having them disown me. You can charm anybody – I've seen you work." _Bella stroked Rosalie's hand with her thumb.

"_Okay, but let's not rush that, okay? " _Rosalie suddenly felt much more confident, and her reassuring, gentle tone was back. _"You don't need to prove anything to me, okay? I just want to be with you, and I can wait as long as you need until the time is right…" _

Bella still looked uncertain, but when Rosalie's face broke out into a devious smirk, her face lit up. _"And yes, Bella, when the time comes I will charm and manipulate 'the shit' out of them as you say, and collectively we will get them to be okay with everything. You are such an amazing, incredible person – I can't imagine anyone ever turning their back on you. They're lucky to have you."_

Bella kissed her hand again as she gazed up at her with haunting eyes. _"Rosalie, has anyone ever told you that your eyes are so green that it's kind of creepy?" _Bella was the one to blush as she continued. _"I mean creepy in a beautiful kind of way, it's just that I've never seen eyes like yours anywhere. It's like they glow, they're so bright green and sometimes they're totally neon, like they're on fire. If I didn't love you and know you, I'd think you were possessed…"_

"_Possessed?" _Rosalie continued to smirk as she raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"_Like do you remember on Days of Our Lives when Dr. Marlena Evans was possessed, and the visual effects people did something to make her eyes like, scary bright blue?" _

Rosalie laughed and nodded. _"Yes, our maid loved that soap. When she got possessed, it scared the shit out of me. You think my eyes look like that?"_

"_Sometimes, like the green version of it. They're breathtaking, I mean, you are so, so, so fucking gorgeous it's bizarre that you even exist…"_

"_Bella, you SO need to get out more," _Rosalie chuckled as she rolled on top of the smaller girl, slipping her arms underneath Bella's as she hovered over her.

"_Seriously, does anyone ever tell you that?" _Bella questioned intently.

"_Um, yeah, actually," _Rosalie paused. She hated talking about herself in front of Bella; she wasn't sure why. _"My eyes are kind of my signature, um as a model I mean. They're why I get hired a lot of the time."_

"_So you're still working as a model then?" _Bella questioned and Rosalie nodded. _"Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_I guess I just didn't want you to think I was like, vapid and vain and all of those things that models are." _Rosalie sighed. _"I was embarrassed."_

"_You shouldn't be." _Bella smiled sweetly.

"_I am pretty vain, though, I have to warn you…" _Rosalie was serious, but Bella just giggled.

"_I know Rose, but I think it's cute. And just so you know, I think your eyes are the most beautiful things I've ever seen, Rose," _Bella breathed. _"I could just stare into them forever." _Rosalie's heart warmed at the compliment, and she leaned down to kiss Bella tenderly.

"_I love you Rose." _Bella pulled back and whispered the words to Rose._ "So much. And I don't want you to say it back; I'm not expecting it, and I know it will take you some time, but just know that I'm so in love with you."_

Rosalie smiled down at her with grateful eyes. _"Me too."_

###

Thank you for all of your reviews, I love them.


	24. Chapter 24

Ownership: Nothing but the story.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I'll get the next chapter up faster. It's all fluff (or whatever it's called) for a while, hope that's alright. There will be drama again, but it's not time yet… Thank you so very much for the reviews, they're such a pleasure to receive.

###

Rosalie breezed through her front door and straight through her apartment, stopping only briefly to check her reflection in the front hall mirror before making her way into the backyard. Opening the door, she was greeted with an all-too familiar scene: Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Bella, Leah, and tonight also two of Leah's friends, all gathered around their outdoor table. It was only six o'clock in the evening, but the temperature had already dropped significantly after already almost a full hour of the darkness that characterized New York City in mid-November.

It was a Thursday night – only a few days had passed since that fateful Halloween evening when, in Rosalie's mind, everything had changed.

###

Rosalie was almost embarrassed to admit that she'd felt happier in the past four days than she could ever remember feeling before. For someone who had considered herself to be so self-protective, Rosalie had abandoned any resentment or doubts she had about being with Bella almost immediately upon the beautiful girl's admission that she'd left her boyfriend and was in love with her. Her lack of hesitation was uncharacteristic of Rosalie to say the least, but with Bella, what exactly wasn't at this point?

All she knew was that she felt strangely light-hearted now; her internal musings had gone from fear over being with Bella to amazement at just how happy this girl seemed to make her. Actually, _happy_ was way too simple an adjective to describe how she felt. It was more like giddy, and smiley, and proud, and hopeful, and fuller. No completely whole; not by a long shot, but Rosalie felt much "fuller" than she had in a long time.

Rosalie truly couldn't believe how incredible it was that she was truly feeling so much for another person. She was _actually_ in love. There were things happening inside of her that she'd never experienced before - feelings and sensations that were new and unknown, and yet surprisingly welcome. She didn't feel out of control, she felt…excited.

And she thought the whole process was really, really weird.

The way Rosalie marveled at the foreign nature and unforeseen depth of her feelings for Bella (and she did this frequently) reminded her somewhat of her thought process when she smoked pot. As strange as the premise for the comparison sounded, the high she got from Bella wasn't entirely dissimilar to the high she got from weed, only in the sense that, on both occasions, Rosalie would continuously self-reflect on the ridiculousness of her behavior because of their influence, yet still behave in said manner despite her internal judgment.

Not that her judgment was negative. With Bella, it was more like an _"I can't believe she makes me feel this way, how insanely typical is this" _type of thing, but instead of the usual self-torture, her musings were now followed with a smile. It was like she was amused by how funny she felt. Which, oddly enough, was exactly how she felt when Rosalie would smoke pot…

Basically, when Rosalie was high, if she started to think about the significance of Darwinism, her stoned mind would still allow her to muse _"isn't this ridiculous that I'm stoned and starting to ponder evolution?" _And yet she would smile and laugh at herself for being so predictable; for succumbing to thoughts that were so cliché – that basically personified what someone would think about when they were stoned. But not only did she smile at her inner musings instead of berating herself, she would also continue to allow herself to ponder Darwinism and evolution – she was high, for Christssakes, clichés be damned.

It was the same with Bella. No matter how overcome she was by the pounding in her heart when they'd lock eyes, or the way her stomach would drop when Bella kissed her, or the incredible happiness that washed over her when she made the smaller girl laugh – no matter what, her mind would still also be thinking _"how ridiculously lame am I for getting this overwhelmed/aroused/giddy – whatever – over her?" _But instead of agonizing, now Rosalie would smile and laugh at herself for being so predictable; for succumbing to feelings that were so cliché – that basically personified what someone would feel when they were in love. And not only that, she'd continue to let herself think about how beautiful, and funny, and captivating Bella was, she'd continue to let herself imagine what their life could look like together, and she'd_ continue_ to embrace the excitement and anxiety and happiness that coursed through her – she was in love, for Christssakes, clichés be damned.

Rosalie had learned with pot to stop freaking out about how strange her body and head felt and simply embrace the fact that this was just what happened with weed. She learned to quiet her inner control-freak and enjoy the high.

And now Rosalie was learning with Bella to stop freaking out about how unfamiliar and vulnerable she felt; how strange it was to feel so much in such a short amount of time – she was learning to embrace the fact that this is just what happens with love. She was learning to quiet her inner control-freak and enjoy the high.

The high of being in love with Bella.

###

Rosalie sauntered over to the table, smiling brightly at Bella when the girl's head snapped up upon hearing the door shut, and then inwardly groaning as Bella stood up to make room for her on the bench and Rosalie saw her outfit. She wasn't sure what it was about the way Bella wore those skinny jeans with her faded black chucks – Rosalie had never in the past been a fan of the look – but Bella in those tight faded jeans, all skinny legs and perfect little ass – Rosalie _loved_ the way Bella looked in them.

Actually, she just loved the way Bella dressed when she wasn't in her "work" clothes, regardless. There was something about her look that was just so _her;_ Bella made what Rosalie would have formerly pooh-poohed as an annoying hipster ensemble seem completely cool. Sexy, actually. Rosalie had gone from secretly snickering at "ironic" girls in faded band t-shirts, hoodies, skinny jeans, chucks, and pointless scarves with no functional value, to now practically soaking herself when one particular, chestnut-haired, exceptionally gorgeous hipster smiled shyly at her and whispered _"I missed you" _into her ear as she pulled Rosalie into a delicate embrace.

Exactly like the whisper and then embrace Bella had pulled her into now, made only even sexier because Bella had to stand on her tip toes to reach the blonde's ear on account of Rosalie's four inch honey croc pumps. Rosalie wasn't sure why this turned her on even more, but whatever, it did.

It _so _did.

"_Missed you too," _Rosalie whispered back quickly, trying to restrain herself from holding Bella for too long as seven sets of eyes were currently trained upon them. Rosalie sat down on the side of the bench closest to her brother, who was at his usual spot at the head of the table on the left end. Bella was pressed up on Rosalie's left side, sandwiched between the blonde and one of the girls Rosalie recognized from Leah's birthday. Leah sat, typically, at the other head of the table, and was flanked by friend 1 (next to Bella) and friend 2 (next to Alice, who sat in her usual position alongside Jasper on the opposite bench that faced away from the building.)

"_Hi," _Rosalie greeted the group indifferently and exhaled as she relaxed into her seat (and into Bella's side.) Bella had pulled a blanket up over their legs that she'd been sharing with friend 1, and Rosalie was far too interested in capturing the smaller girl's soft hand underneath it to bother with some kind of ridiculous round of "hello's" to each person. Everyone seemed content with this and resumed their conversations while Bella began to play with Rosalie's hidden fingers. _"And what ironic vintage t-shirt are we sporting tonight?" _A smirked played across Rosalie's lips as she tugged on the drawstring of Bella's grey cashmere hoodie (formerly belonging to her; she didn't know why Bella loved wearing her clothes so much but she wasn't one to deny her. Because of course, it turned her on as well…)

"_The Scorpions, from their '88 world tour, and its red, your favorite…" _Bella teased back and scrunched her face up defiantly.

"_I like your pea coat, Thumper," _Rosalie adjusted the collar on Bella's navy pea coat fondly. It really was a great coat – proper dark navy, brass buttons, perfectly fitted. Rosalie knew it was shallow to notice or care but she couldn't help it – she liked clothes. She just did.

"_Thank you Rosie," _Bella rolled her eyes and groaned. _"I'm not going to even bother to compliment you, let me guess, the coat is Mongolian grey cashmere plucked only by six year old orphans born on leap years, the funnelneck sweater is cream knitted hamster down woven solely from the pure white belly fur shed by a rare breed of Syrian Golden Hamster only during the month of February," _the hand that remained under the blanket continued to play with Rosalie's, but was now encircling and then tugging each of her fingers in a gentle, but decidedly suggestive sort of way, "_and the pants are a merino wool Siamese kitten fur blend with a little lycra for stretch, and everything is made by Dolce and Valentino, right?" _Bella grinned triumphantly at Rosalie, who in return had started to chuckle.

"_Dolce and Gabbanna, Bella, don't play ignorant," _Rosalie tutted, pulling playfully on the drawstring of Bella's hoodie again. She could hear Alice chuckling as well, and realized that she'd been listening in on their conversation.

Rosalie turned to face her, a wicked grin on her face. _"Funnelneck? Okay Alice, WHAT are you teaching her?"_

"_Nothing, nothing!" _Alice put up her hands in protest as she laughed. _"Bella may or may not have asked me to explain to her why cashmere was so expensive, and I may or may not have given her more information that I should have…" _ Alice mocked glared across the table at Bella, who suddenly hid her face. _"But in my defense, she was the one asking me all the questions about your wardrobe, I just provided the answers…"_

"_Bella!" _Rosalie gasped dramatically. _"Were you asking Alice about ME? My wardrobe? Does this mean you actually LIKE my clothing?" _She tickled the smaller girl gently, but then quickly pulled away as she remembered that they weren't supposed to be so affectionate in front of other people.

Bella just fought off her hands and pouted.

"_Bella..."_ Alice teased. _"Rosalie asked you a question my dear…"_

"_Yes," _Bella muttered under her breath begrudgingly. _"I like her clothes, she looks very pretty." _

"_Aww…" _Rosalie crooned and Alice giggled. Rosalie flashed her brilliant whites at her cohort across the table and winked. Alice smiled knowingly and winked back as she continued to chuckle.

"_Is she just the sweetest?" _Alice teased Bella as Rosalie removed her hand from under the blanket and captured Bella's waist, pulling her close for a side hug and kissing her forehead. Bella feigned protest perfectly, squirming like she was embarrassed but secretly slipping a hand under Rosalie's sweater and rubbing the taught skin of her stomach briefly under the concealment of the thick blanket.

Alice began to make a joke to the two girls about the quality of sheared Siamese kitten fur when she was rudely interrupted by the gratingly shrill voice of Rosalie's favorite neighbor Leah, who suddenly shouted from her position at the other end of the table:

"_So Rose," _she sneered. _"For someone that doesn't have a job you seem to be out a lot, where were you all day?" _Rosalie heard her brother and Jasper groan in unison.

"_A super secret pizza party," _Rosalie retorted without batting an eye. Emmett burst out laughing, and before Leah could continue, he yelled out _"oh cool, I love pizza" _and Rosalie immediately responded with a lifeless _"yeah, well…" _Unbeknownst to the irritating, large girl at the end of the table, they'd just quotes lines from one of their favorite movies, and Jasper, Alice, and Bella began to laugh as well (having all been forced by the Hale children to watch it together that summer.)

Rosalie fought back a smirk as the big girl began to fume, her cheeks turning somewhat purple (Bella had the much lovelier, pinker blush of the two.) She truly couldn't believe how much she'd grown to dislike Bella's sister. The girl really was a pill.

Rosalie felt Bella's warm hand on her thigh and turned her attention back to the beautiful girl. _"Seriously Rose, what did you do today?" _Bella asked sweetly, but loud enough that the table could (and did) listen in. _Everyone_ was always curious to know what Rosalie did during the day, but only because she never spoke about it.

"_I volunteered at a thing downtown," _Rosalie began. _"Oh hey, one of the girls I worked with today went to Florida, and she was our year. She was in Tri-Delt, what sorority were you in again?"_ Internally, Rosalie was pleased that she'd evaded Bella's question so seamlessly. She didn't have a particularly good reason for doing so; she just felt uncomfortable. It wasn't like she was doing anything shady or unseemly – more simply, she'd just kept her day-to-day life very, very private for as long as she could remember, and she preferred it that way.

"_Zeta, um ZTA," _Bella mumbled. _"Were you in a sorority, Rose?" _Bella was still going for the personal questions, but at least she'd dropped her first one.

Before Rosalie could respond, Emmett's rather obvious snort brought the table's attention to him.

"_What, Rosalie doesn't like sororities?" _Leah scoffed in response_. The girl is really getting a bit too comfortable_, Rosalie thought to herself. She cast a withering glare in Leah's direction, effectively silencing her, if only for the moment.

"_Zeta Tau Alpha, right?" _Rosalie turned her head to again meet Bella's eyes as she questioned her. Bella looked surprisingly uncomfortable.

"_Hey wait," _Emmett interrupted again. _"Zeta – I visited a buddy once who went to UF, we went to a Zeta party, fuck those girls were insanely hot – that's like the best hot-girl sorority on campus, right?" _

Bella responded to Emmett's question by looking down and turning her usual, endearing shade of pink. Rosalie caught Bella's hand with her own and squeezed it, but made sure to return her attention to the table. Keeping her hands off Bella was hard enough; keeping her eyes off Bella was almost impossible.

"_Yeah, they were hot but dumb as shit," _Leah griped loudly, clearly irritated. _"I swear they only let Bella in because she kept their GPA up…" _

Upon hearing those ugly words, Rosalie immediately stiffened, and turned her icy gaze back upon the big-boned offender, ready to pounce. Luckily, her brother interrupted again, his remarks very welcome this time:

"_Aww, what's the matter Leah, jealous?" _He feigned sympathy as he goaded Leah from across the table. Jasper snickered. _"I'm pretty sure Bella got in for WAY more reasons than just her grades," _Emmett glanced over at Bella and leered as he raised an eyebrow suggestively at the brunette, whose gaze was now fixed entirely upon the beer can in front of her. Rosalie was too annoyed with her sister to focus on how much she wished Bella would have more of a backbone when it came to Leah. Bella just seemed to accept the older girl's behavior without question.

Rosalie felt a surge of hatred course her veins; if Bella wouldn't put Leah in her place, Rosalie was more than happy to oblige.

"_Leah," _Rosalie had composed herself and now spoke nonchalantly, both her tone and expression reflecting disinterest instead of the disgust she felt inside. Leah tried to glare at her as menacingly as possible, and was clearly frustrated by Rosalie's lack of response to it and emotionless expression as she looked back at the bigger girl. _"As your friend, Leah, I'd suggest that you ought to make a more concerted effort to avoid ending up in situations like this, where, in your feeble attempt to belittle your younger sister, you actually end up simply revealing your own insufficiencies and insecurities." _

Leah looked puzzled. Bella rubbed Rosalie's hand with her thumb from underneath the blanket. Emmett joined Jasper in his snicker. _"Based on your comments, anyone with a reasonable level of intelligence, which I must warn you, every single person at this table possesses, could easily deduce that you were clearly in a lesser sorority during your time at Florida, and are subsequently bitter and jealous of your younger sister for being accepted into an organization quite obviously superior to your own." _

Rosalie examined the manicure of her free hand, enjoying a calculated pause while the boys continued to snicker and Alice and then even Bella also chimed in with chortles of their own. _"And now everyone is laughing at you. Leah, I know you're brighter than this." _She smiled sweetly at the girl with her last sentence. _"But by all means, please correct me if I'm wrong – WERE you and Bella in the same sorority?"_

Leah sat up stick-straight, her anger easily decipherable on her swollen features. Rosalie guessed that Leah probably would have been a somewhat pretty girl without the added weight; not nearly as pretty as Bella, but pretty none-the-less. She wondered if Leah simply didn't realize what she looked like now, and perhaps that was why she was currently responding to Rosalie's words with anger rather than embarrassment, an emotion which would have been much more fitting for someone with an ego that actually corresponded with their appearance.

Although Rosalie couldn't actually think of anything that could justify behavior like Leah's. She was either incredibly arrogant, desperate to prove herself, or (and most likely) a mixture of both, but regardless, instead of responding to Rosalie's question, Leah merely snarked:

"_You didn't answer MY question, Rosalie? Did you think you were too good for a sorority at whatever stupid school your parents bought your way into?" _Leah sat back, trying to appear confident and pleased, but her subtle glances for reassurance from the friends flanking either side of her spoke otherwise.

Across the table, Rosalie could see her brother beaming, just waiting for his sister to respond. He always took extra pride in both her accomplishments and her ability to cut practically anyone down to size.

And Rosalie was about to do just that when she felt the electricity from Bella's soft full lips as they grazed her left ear.

"_She suicided ZTA and didn't get a bid, so she never even got into a sorority at all." _Bella whispered, her breath dancing and teasing every nerve ending it touched. Rosalie didn't exactly know what that meant, but she got the gist of Bella's comment.

"_What the fuck are you telling her?" _Leah yelled loudly at her sister, her cheeks getting redder and redder with each passing second. Even her own friends began to snicker, simply because Leah was a bully, and very few people didn't enjoy seeing a bully get their comeuppance.

Bella looked over at her sister and Rosalie could feel her smiling, although Rosalie herself kept her mask of indifference on and remained focused on the details of her recent manicure.

"_Nothing," _Bella chirped back at her sister, batting her ridiculously thick, long lashes innocently. _"I just told her how you suicided my sorority but we didn't give you a bid, so you completely screwed yourself. I don't even know why you thought you could get in there in the first place. And it was Yale, Leah, Rosalie went to Yale, but I know you knew that already. Now that I think about it, I doubt that school even had sororities." _

Rosalie released Bella's hand from under the blanket and moved it to her thigh. She wasn't sure why, but she was suddenly _so_ turned-on.

"_Oh but they did have societies…" _Emmett taunted Leah playfully, and Rosalie watched as Alice leaned across Jasper and whispered in her brother's ear excitedly as Emmett nodded in response.

"_Ooooh I just knew it, no fucking way, that is so cool!" _Alice's sing-song voice erupted as she grinned at Rosalie. The blonde smiled back at her graciously. _"Did you get, like, the brand on your wrist and all that stuff from the movie? Is there really a secret island?" _Alice bubbled and gestured wildly with her hands. She was always such an energetic speaker. _"No wait, you probably can't say anything, right? Oh Rosalie, that is so, so cool, I swear I'm going to get you absolutely hammered sometime and FORCE you to tell me about it!" _

Alice's enthusiasm was awfully sweet to watch, and Rosalie couldn't help but feel somewhat proud, even though she was well aware that neither Bella, her sister, nor the rest of the table knew what on earth Alice was talking about.

Bella looked up at Rosalie through her lashes questioningly. Rosalie moved her hand a little farther inward on Bella's slender thigh, and rubbed soothingly. She was embarrassed for Bella to know what they were talking about.

Rosalie wasn't usually ashamed of it; rather, she was exceptionally proud, but she wasn't sure if she liked the idea of Bella seeing her that way. She knew how insecure Bella could be, and she didn't want information from her past jeopardizing her relationship with the beautiful girl. She wanted Bella to feel comfortable, not intimidated. And although she had no reason to be truly intimidated by Rosalie, the blonde was hyper-aware of Bella's over-sensitivity, and she wouldn't have been the first person in Rosalie's life who got hung-up on some of her traditionally more prestigious attributes.

Rosalie silently willed whatever God existed to please allow the subject to be dropped. She did NOT want Bella to turn her away.

When it came to subject-dropping, however, God clearly had other plans. _"What the fuck are you talking about, ALICE?" _Leah yelled at her roommate, clearly exasperated. Leah seemed to be yelling quite a lot tonight. And Leah also _hated_ when she wasn't "in" on something.

Alice just rolled her eyes.

"_Seriously, Rosalie, what is she talking about?" _The voice came from one of Leah's two followers, and it wasn't condescending or angry; actually, it was curious and surprisingly innocent.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, _Rosalie cursed inwardly.

"_Oh Hanna, don't even bother, Rosalie gets weirdly modest about that sort of thing," _Emmett teased his sister as he winked at the girl, one of the best-looking of all of Leah's cronies. _"That's what I'm here for!" _He beamed and cast a glance at his sister, who just rolled her eyes, begrudgingly giving her permission for her brother to continue. There was no way of avoiding it, and perhaps Bella didn't even know what it even was. Or so Rosalie hoped.

"_Rosalie was in Skull and Bones at Yale." _Emmett announced. Rosalie felt her beautiful Bella immediately tense up.

"_What, like the fucking movie? You were IN that?" _Leah continued to yell. She seemed to have absolutely no idea how loud she was. She _never_ did.

"_What, did your Daddy get you in?" _Leah sneered.

Rosalie just rolled her eyes again, well aware that her refusal to rise to Leah's jabs would only make her appear even more superior.

"_No, Leah, our father went to Harvard, our family is all Dartmouth and Harvard men. Rosalie is the only one in of us in seven generations on either side to go to Yale and so of course she's the only Skull and Bones…" _Emmett's tone began as condescending, but started to get somewhat dangerous. _"Listen to me, Leah, I think you should count yourself lucky that Rosalie is holding back because she likes your sister and your roommate so much, since it is clear to me that you have no idea the kind of fire you're playing with right now trying to antagonize her. I would back off, she's rarely this kind." _

His voice was a warning, and Leah actually seemed to respond to him. Emmett was usually very nice to her, so his words must have carried more value.

"_Oh come on Emmett, I'm not going to kill her or anything…" _Rosalie smirked mischievously, suddenly bringing the attention on herself and trying to lighten the mood to make Bella more comfortable.

She took the opportunity to wink flirtatiously with the friend of Leah's who had asked the question in the first place, and the girl giggled and blushed.

"_Alice, you could roofie me and I still wouldn't tell you our secrets, I'm a completely impenetrable fortress of silence." _Rosalie turned and flashed the pixie-like girl her most brilliant smile as she teased her and Alice returned the smile and began again to laugh.

Leah opened her mouth, but Alice cut her off with a quick _"Jesus Leah, you're so annoying," _effectively silencing her once more, hopefully this time for good.

Emmett quickly began babbling to the group about the secret sex society he was in, expertly changing the subject. He always knew when to take the heat off of his sister. The group laughed as he spun a tale that sounded an awful lot like the movie "Eyes Wide Shut," and Rosalie relaxed a bit, leaning heavily into Bella's side.

"_You were in fucking Skull and Bones, Rose?" _Bella hissed in her ear.

_Oh hell no,_ Rosalie though. _There is no way I'm going to let her make a big deal out of this…_

Before she could respond, Bella hissed again, this time sounding legitimately angry. _"Why the fuck don't you ever tell me anything, and how the fuck am I supposed to feel about being with a girl that went to Yale and is in the fucking secret society that like, runs this country?" _

Rosalie chuckled, even though her body had tensed back up. This was _exactly_ why she kept things from Bella.

"_We do not run the country, that's a TOTAL myth, and Bella, you're actually supposed to feel proud that your girlfriend went to an Ivy-League school and was chosen to be a member of a prestigious secret order, silly," _she turned her head and whispered back, consciously willing herself not to look too obvious to the rest of the group as her lips brushed Bella's cheek for a split-second.

Nerves invaded her body as she felt Bella grow even more rigid upon hearing her words. She wasn't sure what she had said wrong. She forced herself to continue. _"Just like I'm awfully proud that MY girlfriend was in the hottest sorority at the University of Florida, which I think is supposed to be like, the number five hottest school in the entire country…" _Bella was now almost entirely stiff, and her hand had affixed itself to Rosalie's leg where it gripped her tightly. _"…Which means you're pretty fucking hot, but I kind of knew that already." _Rosalie purred her last lines, hoping that her flirtatious words would calm the girl somewhat, but they did nothing of the sort.

Rosalie's eyes quickly scanned the group; no one was paying attention to them yet, even though their heads were turned towards each other and close to the degree that Bella's lips lingered only centimeters away from Rosalie's ear, and vice versa. Rosalie could hear Bella breathing faster.

"_Bella, what's wrong, please don't make this a big deal," _Rosalie pleaded, feeling slightly silly and embarrassed that she was actually _pleading_ with anyone, but she quickly forced those emotions back into her subconscious. She placed her own hand over Bella's and rubbed it soothingly.

Bella didn't respond, but she didn't move away either. _"Bella?" _Rosalie questioned, nervously (much to her annoyance; Bella was_ constantly_ making her nervous, and she hated the feeling…)

"_You called me your girlfriend," _Bella whispered.

Rosalie felt warmth and relief flood her body and she pulled back, laughing melodiously at the confused girl in front of her. Bella looked completely befuddled. _"God, Bella, don't make me freak out like that," _she leaned in and whispered back as she chuckled, ignoring the strong desire to kiss Bella as the slight turn of the brunette's head had now placed their lips, rather than ears, only inches apart.

"_Rosalie," _Bella whispered. _"Um, is that what we, like, um, are we, um…" _Bella's stuttering was typical but as endearing as ever. She ran her fingers through her shiny brown hair, stirring the fresh scent of citrus and maybe even a hint of verbena that was so uniquely Bella.

Rosalie inhaled subtly, still cognizant of the people around them and remaining careful not to jeopardize their secret.

She met Bella's eyes and smiled. _"I don't want to draw attention to us right now, so I'll say this really fast and then we need to look elsewhere, okay?" _Bella nodded, biting her lower lip in that incredibly torturous fashion she'd seemed to perfect. _"But um, will you be my girlfriend, Bella? I'm sorry I just assumed, I guess I should have asked you properly, forgive me?" _Bella's rich chocolate eyes, hypnotically dark in the low light of the evening, pierced her green ones, and Rosalie accidentally shivered a bit.

"_Yes, I'd like to be your girlfriend, but please tell me we can make it official soon, because I'm going crazy here…" _Bella's whisper was rushed but somehow also suddenly seductive; Rosalie was unsure as to whether or not this was intentional.

She raised an eyebrow curiously at the gorgeous brunette.

"_Like, make it official how?" _Did Bella want to tell people? It seemed a bit soon, considering both the fears she'd voiced only a few nights prior _and_ her sister's obnoxious behavior.

"_Like, in the biblical sense…" _Bella tried to purr and gaze at her wantonly, but her blush soon overtook her and she looked down in embarrassment. Rosalie accidentally moaned a little bit as she thought about how badly she wanted to feel Bella beneath her right now. How badly she wanted to bury her fingers deep into the incredibly hot, tight, soft, wetness and feel Bella pulse and clench as she panted her name. _"Fuck," _she muttered under her breath.

Rosalie felt like her mind was a broken record, constantly noting and replaying her surprise at how much she wanted Bella. She said it to herself over and over, but it changed nothing; she absolutely could not believe that it was even _possible_ to desire another human being as much as she happened to desire this girl. Her girl. Her _girlfriend. _

Bella's blush grew even more furious as she heard Rosalie's moan and then frustrated curse, and she pressed her shoulder into Rosalie's and scooted as close to the blonde as the bench would allow. Rosalie gathered up the blanket and rumpled it on top of both of their laps, creating a good foot-high mass of scrunched fabric that she knew would completely obscure any indication that her hands were moving from beneath it.

She leaned over and ducked her head under the table quickly, making it appear as if she was picking up something she'd dropped, and she took the opportunity to grab Bella's hand and kiss it gently, her mouth slightly parted and lips full as they lingered for much longer than was appropriate or safe. Bella turned her hand and cupped Rosalie's cheek tenderly before Rosalie popped up and adjusted the blanket, feigning the appearance of trying to get comfortable while she slipped her hand down between Bella's thighs and began to caress her.

She let her fingers rub and stroke everywhere as she leaned into Bella again, a giant fake smile plastered on her face for all to see as she quietly husked, _"my girlfriend is so fucking beautiful." _Bella shivered and twitched a bit as Rosalie's evil fingers began to run up and down her clothed center. _"Bella," _she muttered through her teeth. _"Pretend I've said something funny and roll your eyes." _Bella quickly responded with a believable chuckle and a dramatic eye-roll as Rosalie again whispered. _"I want my girlfriend so fucking badly…" _

"_Jesus Christ," _Bella muttered between gritted teeth of her own. She jumped as Rosalie pressed down on her clit. _"My girlfriend is really fucking evil…"_

"_My girlfriend is to blame, she's just so irresistible." _Rosalie tried desperately not to meet her eyes but couldn't help glancing at the mesmerizing darkness that took her in.

"_My girlfriend…" _This time Bella did not speak through her teeth; instead, she leaned in and kissed Rosalie's cheek, the bold action only partially obscured by the blonde's own turned head. _"My girlfriend is even more fucking beautiful, and -" _Bella purred rather well, but Rosalie could feel her begin to grin "-_she's really fucking cheesy!"_

Rosalie burst into laughter, causing everyone at the table to look their way. Bella was giggling as well.

"_What?" _Leah demanded.

"_Your sister…" _Rosalie began between giggles _"…is so fucking mean to me!"_ She threw her arm around Bella's neck and pulled her into a head lock as the smaller girl wriggled and protested. _"Horrible…Bella you are a horrible girl, you have no idea what you've reduced me to!" _Rosalie laughed genuinely, oblivious to the amazement on her brother's face and the mixture of jealousy and surprise on the others as they watched Rosalie Hale's usual icy indifference completely melt as she joked and laughed with the smaller girl.

If Rosalie had looked up, she would have seen Alice smile knowingly as she whispered to Jasper _"I can't believe Bella finally cracked her"_;Emmett grin in awe as he saw a side of his sister that hadn't been present in too many years to count; and Leah quip _"what the fuck makes her so special" _to the girl on her left and subsequently glare at the girl on the right after she whispered _"because you're sister is fucking hot and adorable as hell, I don't blame her" _and returned Leah's glare with a triumphant smile of her own.

But Rosalie was too busy giggling and shrieking as Bella tried to dribble beer onto her head in retaliation as she smiled devilishly at the blonde and Rosalie wrestled with her wrists, all while her brother Emmett began to chant _"Bella, Bella, Bella" _and Jasper yelled _"douse her Bella" _and _"uh oh Rosalie, this one doesn't fuck around" _and Alice began to throw peanuts across the table into Leah's gaping mouth.

###

When everyone had again broken off into smaller conversations, Rosalie took the opportunity to give Bella her full attention. _"Guess what?" _She taunted flirtatiously.

"_What?" _Bella matched her teasing tone.

"_I googled you today…" _Rosalie smiled at her adoringly as she spoke; she'd meant the smile to be more seductive, but as usual, she lost her composure the minute Bella's gorgeous eyes met her own.

"_You did?" _Bella sounded surprised.

"_I did," _Rosalie nodded smugly. _"I didn't know you played soccer in high school." _Rosalie had discovered that afternoon that Bella had not only played soccer in high school; she'd been All-American both her junior and senior years.

"_Well you never tell me anything about you, why should I reveal anything about me?" _It was Bella's turn to smile as Rosalie rolled her eyes and groaned.

"_WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOU GUYS?" _Leah's grating voice interrupted just as Rosalie was about to respond and she couldn't help but feel slightly relieved to have narrowly avoided another _"you never tell me anything about you" _conversation. Even though she'd just about had it with Leah's behavior, and didn't feel very much like restraining herself any longer.

But she willed herself to stay calm, for Bella's sake.

"_Oh yeah Leah, this is called talking, heard of it?" _Bella snapped at her sister and glared.

"_Yeah well instead of dyking out over there why don't you guys talk to someone else?" _Leah sneered.

Rosalie whipped her head around and smiled sweetly at Leah, but her patience had run out. _"Fine Leah, what would you like to discuss, your roots or your overbite?" _

"_FUCK YOU ROSALIE," _Leah screamed. The rest of the table shifted uncomfortably in their seats. _"WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING OBSESSION WITH MY SISTER?" _Friend 1 on Leah's right placed a hand on her arm in an effort to quiet her, but Leah swatted her off.

"_LEAH, YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A TOTAL WEIRDO TONIGHT, WHAT IS YOUR-" _Alice began to actually yell at Leah, something she _never_ did with anyone, but Rosalie quickly cut her off.

"_It's okay Alice, just ignore her," _Rosalie spoke calmly and turned her attention back to Bella. Her stomach dropped when she saw the brunette's pained expression. She smiled reassuringly at her and whispered _"its okay,"_ but Bella quickly whispered back _"no Rose, no it's not, I wish someone would just kill her, I hate her right now." _Rosalie could feel Leah's eye's boring into her, but she ignored them and whispered _"let's just change the subject, okay?" _Bella nodded with a weak smile, and Rosalie brought the volume of her voice back up to normal. _"So yeah Bella, I even found a picture of you when you were ten, you were so adora-"_

"_I said, WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR OBSESSION WITH MY SISTER, ROSALIE?"_ Rosalie watched Bella wince at the shouted words.

"_Sorry," _she whispered discreetly to her distraught brunette, apologizing in advance for losing her composure. She then shot up and walked gracefully over to where Leah sat, keeping her face a mask of indifference as she met the girl's eyes.

Leah began to stand up, but Rosalie was instantly upon her. She placed a slender, toned arm on each armrest of the larger girl's chair, effectively pinning Leah to her seat.

The rest of the group was silent, and Rosalie could feel six sets of eyes upon them.

She leaned in to within inches of Leah's face, her inflamed green eyes boring dangerously into muddy, hazel ones. Leah flinched a bit but held her ground. _"I'm not intimidated by you Rosalie, so don't even try," _Leah attempted to sound threatening from her spot trapped in her chair, but her voice wavered.

"_Well that's your first mistake, Jungle Gym," _Rosalie's voice was low and icy. _"See, you should be intimidated by me…" _ She spoke quietly enough that the rest of the group couldn't really hear her, as much as they tried. _"Because I can fucking destroy you if I so choose." _

Rosalie did not wait for Leah to respond; she could feel the girl's breathing increase and she watched her pupils dilate. Leah _was_ intimidated. Rosalie could sense her fear. The feeling that elicited was one of her most favorite feelings in the world.

"_You're lucky I'm speaking quietly enough that no one can hear me, because I think you've suffered enough humiliation tonight, albeit self-imposed…" _Leah tried to look away, but Rosalie's hand shot out and captured her by the chin roughly, forcing her to face the dangerous blonde.

"_But if you don't stop harassing me and your sister, I won't hesitate to thoroughly embarrass you in front of everyone here. And judging from the responses you've been getting tonight, I daresay there are more than just a few of us that would like to see you truly put in your place." _

Leah reached up to hit the hand that was holding her face, but Rosalie's reflexes were well-honed, and she caught Leah by the wrist, gripping it tightly and digging her nails in enough for Leah to grimace in pain. _"Shut the fuck up, Leah," _she snarled her conclusion. _"Or I will do it for you."_

In almost an instant Rosalie had dropped her wrist and glided back to her seat. She heard one of Leah's friends telling the obnoxious girl to be quiet or leave.

"_I'm sorry about her," _Bella whispered.

"_No I'm sorry, I hate that she behaves like this Bella." _Rosalie was being honest; Leah had made it more than evident that she was going to be a legitimate threat to their relationship going forward.

"_Don't let her get to you, okay? I'm afraid she's going to make you not like me anymore." _Bella muttered anxiously.

"_Okay." _Rosalie nodded. She knew she probably should have taken the opportunity to reassure Bella that nothing could make her stop liking her, but she was still new at being so open about her feelings, and in that moment the vulnerability silenced her.

"_You scare me, Rose." _Bella was whispering again.

Her comment struck a nerve, and Rosalie's heart sank. She _was_ frightening; Bella had every right to be scared of her. She admonished herself for giving in to her natural instinct to fight. She needed to keep Bella away from that side of her. Rosalie wasn't sure if she'd be able to get through her entire life with Bella (if she was lucky enough to have her that long) while keeping a part of her that was so completely intrinsic hidden, but she was an adept liar and willing to try.

Bella must have sensed Rosalie's internal musings, even though Rosalie's expression had remained as stony as ever. The girl's uncanny ability to read Rosalie was becoming more and more apparent. Rosalie wasn't sure if she liked that.

But Bella's affectionate, shy smile distracted her from herself once again. _"I'm scared of you because you make me feel these crazy things, I mean, I wasn't kidding the other night, I'm so fucking in love with you and it scares the shit out of me."_

"_I know," _Rosalie replied quietly as she looked down. She wasn't sure why she still felt so discouraged. _"You've said that before."_

"_Scared in a good way, Rosalie," _Bella soothed. _"I like feeling scared; no one has ever scared me before."_

Rosalie groaned. _"That's NOT a good thing, Bella."_

Bella didn't respond. Instead, she turned her back to Rosalie and whipped out her phone to text message someone. Rosalie just sighed and looked down, keeping her expression indifferent. Her phone suddenly buzzed, and she grabbed it while turning her back to Bella as well. It was probably for the best; they were drawing too much suspicion as it was, and maybe Bella needed a break from her for a few moments.

BELLA SMS: SORRY I SAID THAT. IT CAME OUT WRONG.

Rosalie wasn't expecting that. She felt Bella turn her back even more and press into Rosalie, so that the two girls were leaning into each other back-to-back. Rosalie tried to sneak a glance at Bella, and found her looking totally nonchalant as she fiddled with her phone.

ROSALIE SMS: DON'T BE SORRY, I SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE AFTER YOUR SISTER.

Rosalie hoped her response might ameliorate things. She regretted upsetting Bella, if she had indeed done so (she did _not,_ however, regret confronting Leah, except that she would have preferred to have been able to take a few swings…)

BELLA SMS: OH STOP BEING SO FUCKING MOODY AND DRAMATIC, YOU'RE GETTING IT ALL WRONG. I LOVED THAT YOU WENT AFTER HER. IT MADE ME FEEL LIKE THESE CRAZY THINGS. LIKE GOOD CRAZY THINGS. YOU DEFENDED ME. I WAS JUST SURPRISED THAT IT MADE ME FEEL SO GOOD.

_Huh?_ Rosalie had never been so inconsistent at reading someone in her entire life. _Defending her made her happy?_

ROSALIE SMS: WELL I AIM TO PLEASE…

The phone buzzed right away. Bella was a _fast_ typer.

BELLA SMS: OH SHUT UP, DON'T BE GLIB.

Rosalie chuckled and felt a sharp elbow poke her side.

ROSALIE SMS: GLIB?

BELLA SMS: YES YALE, I CAN SAY MORE THAN JUST THE F-WORD, YOU KNOW…

Rosalie chuckled again, and this time she could feel more than hear Bella giggling softly behind her as well.

ROSALIE SMS: OH YEAH, LIKE WHAT?

BELLA SMS: LIKE I LOVE YOU ROSE

ROSALIE SMS: AND YOU'RE CALLING ME CHEESY?

Bella groaned audibly, and Rosalie felt a smirk teasing the corners of her own mouth…

BELLA SMS: UGH YOU'RE SO IMPOSSIBLE. WHEN CAN WE GO INSIDE TO, UM, YOU KNOW?

ROSALIE SMS: IT'S LIKE 7, IT WILL BE HOURS UNTIL THEY GO TO BED…

BELLA SMS: I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT THAT LONG!

Rosalie chuckled once more and nudged Bella gently.

ROSALIE SMS: OH REALLY?

Bella huffed theatrically. Rosalie wondered what kind of expressions she was making.

BELLA SMS: I'M SERIOUS. I CAN'T WAIT.

ROSALIE SMS: BATHROOM?

BELLA SMS: NO I NEED MORE THAN THAT. NOW

Rosalie felt Bella's head, which was now touching the back of her own, turn slightly away from the table, and Rosalie mirrored her movements. Neither girl spoke, but both simultaneously dropped their arms and briefly linked their fingers. _"Please?" _Rosalie was sure she had heard Bella's faint, breathily whispered plea correctly. Her body was starting to feel like it was on fire. Something deep inside of her began to wind around itself like a rubber band, and the tension felt incredible. Rosalie knew she couldn't wait much longer either.

ROSALIE SMS: OKAY HANG ON, I HAVE A PLAN, YOU'RE LUCKY I'M SO CLEVER

BELLA SMS: YES I AM, CLEVER, COCKY, AND BLONDE, JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT

She felt Bella exhale deeply and press harder against her. _Fuck…_

ROSALIE SMS: OKAY JUST PLAY ALONG

Rosalie immediately turned and looked at Bella.

"_Hey," _she spoke audibly,_ "My friend Alex rented out a lounge downtown, he just invited me and I can bring someone, open bar, want to go?" _Bella looked at Rosalie curiously for a second.

"_Um yeah, but I'm not really dressed for it…" _Bella seemed confused. Rosalie nudged her again.

"_No you're fine, it's casual. Let's go, I said I'd be there in twenty, meet me outside in five." _She offered Bella a hand and pulled her up. They quickly said their goodbyes to the group and ran into their separate apartments, but not before Emmett caught Rosalie's eye and smiled encouragingly.

As she threw a few toiletries into a silver and green striped Goyard, Rosalie felt her phone vibrate again.

BELLA SMS: WHAT ARE WE DOING?

ROSALIE SMS: EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANTED, SILLY. HURRY UP

###

Rosalie smirked seductively at the beautiful brunette as Bella rushed through the door of the building and ran up to meet her. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around the taller blonde, pecking her lips before giggling _"Are we really going to a bar?"_

"_Hell no! And you have an awful lot of faith in my ability to not drop you, huh?" _Rosalie whistled for a taxi and held the door for a giggling Bella, who nodded coyly as she hopped in and slid across the seat.

"_76__th__ and Madison, please." _

Bella grabbed Rosalie's hands and brought them into her lap.

"_Where are you taking me?" _She demanded as she leaned in and kissed Rosalie's cheek. Rosalie answered her question with another cryptic smirk and released one of her hands from Bella's grasp so that she could dial a number on her phone. She felt dark, endless brown eyes upon her as she waited for an answer on the other end, caressing Bella's palm with her thumb absentmindedly as it rested in Bella's lap.

"_May I please speak with Marco?" _Rosalie spoke evenly and politely.

"_Oooh, who's Marco?" _Bella taunted as she crawled across the seat and into Rosalie's lap. She leaned in and dragged her lips across the expanse of Rosalie's graceful neck as the blonde made arrangements over the phone and pulled Bella close.

"_This is Rosalie Hale, is 801 available?" _Rosalie tried not to giggle as Bella tickled her sides lightly.

"_Bella," _she chastised in a whisper, feigning annoyance as the tenacious brunette trapped her bottom lip with her teeth. _"Perfect, we'll be there in five, thank you Marco, mmmm" _Rosalie groaned as Bella latched onto her pulse point and began to rock her hips into her slowly but quite forcefully. _"No everything is fine, um, sorry, bad connection, see you in a few…" _

Rosalie hung up quickly and dropped her phone to the floor so she could catch Bella's wrists.

"_You…" _She purred. _ "Are very bad…" _Bella smirked back and attacked her lips hungrily, yanking her wrists from Rosalie's grasp and clutching the blonde tightly. Rosalie moaned at the contact, and felt Bella's lips turn up into a smile, clearly please by her girlfriend's response.

Rosalie wrapped her hands around Bella's neck and caressed the delicate skin her fingers found as she returned Bella's kiss, pressing her full lips into her urgently while somehow keeping them soft.

Rosalie was trying desperately to restrain herself from ripping Bella's clothes off; her sexual appetite had always been somewhat insatiable, and with Bella it seemed to have quadrupled. It was difficult for her to not throw Bella against a wall and fuck the life out of her every time she saw her. The girl was just so irresistible.

Bella's chocolate eyes were heavily lidded with arousal, her perfect nose nuzzling Rosalie's tenderly as her warm, swollen lips made the blonde's insides twist with every touch. Bella had no idea how unbelievably desirable she was, and Rosalie tried frantically to focus on how much she cared for the person inside of that unbearably sexy body instead.

She didn't want to make Bella feel like that part of her didn't matter. Because truthfully, Rosalie felt almost ashamed by how attracted she was to the smaller brunette, and sometimes it _didn't_ matter. _She's just too fucking hot, _Rosalie groaned inwardly. Bella brought out the animal in her more than anyone else ever had, and as her incredible thighs pressed up on either side of the blonde while Bella straddled her sitting form and ground her core into Rosalie's with an accuracy that Rosalie thought would have been impossible in their current position; as Bella did this, Rosalie was forced to pull away and bite down on her lip. Hard.

"_What?" _Bella husked as she dug her hands down farther into the vinyl seat and cupped Rosalie's ass aggressively while she panted and stared deeply into liquid green eyes, her lips not two inches away. The sight of Bella breathing heavy like this, touching and caressing Rosalie so eagerly, wanting her so much; Rosalie had to bite her lip _again_ to calm down, and this time the pain made her wince slightly. _And I haven't even felt her tongue in my mouth yet, _Rosalie mused.

Her hands were still on Bella's neck, still rubbing and stroking, and the way Bella was looking at her, eyes a mixture of desperate want and actual love – it was too much.

"_Ugh Bella, we have to slow down," _Rosalie groaned as she turned her head to avoid Bella's tempting lips as the smaller girl moved in again.

"_Rosie, we haven't even started making out yet," _Bella breathed, not whining, just exasperated, but in the sexiest way. _Oh fuck, she used the nickname again. _Rosalie couldn't believe how her body responded to a nickname that she'd once so loathed – that, combined with Bella's incredible beauty and the look in her eyes; the look that Rosalie now knew for sure was love – Rosalie felt like her heart was going to explode right there in the back of the taxi.

Heat was everywhere; not just in her core, or her heart – it was more like her entire body was consumed by Bella. She felt completely overwhelmed, but in an incredible way. Bella made her feel so good it was hardly real; she'd never, in all her years and with all her knowledge, ever even heard love described this way.

And now, as Bella looked suddenly concerned, that warmth increased triple-fold. _Great, I'm going to fucking burst into flames…_

"_It's just you have no idea what you do to me, Bella," _Rosalie muttered, entirely truthful. _"I'm just afraid that because I want you so much I'll end up scaring you off." _Bella hadn't stopped massaging her ass or grinding into her in the measured, beyond-arousing rhythm that seemed to characterize all of their intimate encounters these days. Rosalie groaned loudly as Bella's center again pressed directly against her own. She had always been careful to keep quiet during sex, but in the past week she'd lost that control as well. When Bella had spoken those words on Halloween night, a switch had absolutely, undoubtedly been flipped, and Rosalie had now also lost her will to moderate her own verbal responses. She had it bad for Bella. So bad.

"_You can't scare me off," _Bella purred back and she closed the small gap between them to kiss Rosalie gently. _"I love that you care about that, but seriously, don't bother." _Bella spoke those last words practically into her mouth and pulled Rosalie's body into her own with all of the strength she could muster. Rosalie kissed her back, savoring the soft tingles those lips produced before pulling away again.

"_It's just I don't know anymore whether to fuck you like crazy or just kiss you and touch you slowly for hours," _Rosalie panted, not thinking about what her words even meant.

"_I know," _Bella exhaled, her voice genuine. _"It's like half of me just wants you to completely take me and the other half wants to just like, connect with you and stuff…" _Bella pulled back a little and looked at Rosalie a bit shyly. _"Is that really lame?"_

"_Um," _Rosalie bit her lip nervously, a habit she seemed to have acquired from her gorgeous brunette. _"Before you I would have said yes, but now no, it's just like-"_

"_Overwhelming." _Both girls spoke in unison, and also shared the same surprised look at each other's responses.

"_Rose, what's happening to us?" _Bella gasped. Rosalie felt like her insides were going to twist apart. She felt dizzy.

"_I don't know," _she breathed back. _"You really understand?"_

"_Yeah," _Bella responded. Their gaze was insanely intense – as cliché as Rosalie knew it was, so much was spoken when their eyes met; so much expressed without the utterance of a single sound. _"Fuck Rose, I REALLY fucking love you."_

"_That's what this is, right?" _Rosalie asked genuinely, and was immediately mortified by her own question.

She felt the cab come to a halt as it pulled up to the corner of their destination.

"_Yeah, I think so, I mean, I've never um, felt this way before, I know I say that all the time and sound like an idiot…" _Bella brought a hand up and rubbed the bridge of her nose in embarrassment of her own. Rosalie, continuing her now seemingly endless streak of alien feelings accompanied by even more alien actions, was overcome by Bella's endearing gesture and gently removed Bella's hand from her forehead.

She brought it to her lips and kissed the knuckles as she gazed intently at the smaller girl.

"_No, you don't sound like an idiot at all, I um, I like it," _Rosalie whispered, unsure of why they both whispered so much even when it didn't matter who heard.

"_I just, um don't hold back, okay?" _Bella murmured , her voice belying her insecurity. _"Just, um, be with me all the time both ways until you get sick of me, okay?"_

Rosalie scoffed. _"As if I could ever get sick of you." _

Bella smiled warmly at her. The cab had been standing for a while now, and the driver was shifting impatiently in the front seat. Bella ignored him. _"Promise you won't get sick of me?" _She questioned Rosalie nervously.

"_I promise, you're like, the most incredible-" _Rosalie groaned audibly and began to chuckle. She grinned at Bella. _"God Bella, the things you get me to say to you, I can't even believe I talk like this now…"_

Bella broke out into a grin of her own, and held it as Rosalie guided her off of her lap and fumbled in her bag for some cash (which was especially difficult since she couldn't bring herself to break Bella's gaze to actually _look_ in the bottomless pit that was her tote bag.)

"_Oh you think the shit you say is bad, do you even remember Saturday night?" _Bella grinned even wider as she rolled her own chocolate eyes. _"Believe it or not, I'm not actually like that normally. I mean, I'm not a stone cold icy statue like you, but…" _She pinched Rosalie's sides and the blonde yelped, thrusting a twenty at the driver and not waiting for change.

"_Oh is that what you think of me?" _Rosalie kidded as she helped Bella out of the cab and pulled her into an embrace on the sidewalk, kissing her forehead lovingly.

"_No," _Bella looked up at her from within her arms, a naughty smirk gracing her lips. _"Secretly I know you're a huge pussy when it comes to me…"_

"_Ugh," _Rosalie groaned again. _"I hate you so much…" _She squeezed the smaller girl with force, earning a yelp before she released her and began to pull Bella towards the entrance of the building she'd intended to bring her to. _"So, so mean to me, I hate you Thumper…"_

"_Nooooo,"_ Bella giggled. _ "You fucking love me and I don't even need you to say it because I can just tell…wait, hold on a second" _Bella cut herself off as she looked up at the entrance to the hotel. _"The Carlyle? Seriously?"_

"_Yeah, is that okay?" _Rosalie wasn't serious; she knew it was fine. She loved to impress her girl.

"_Um yeah, are we STAYING here?" _Bella dug her nails into the hand she held, and Rosalie laughed.

"_No talons, play nice, and yes, it's only seven thirty, I couldn't wait until everyone had gone to bed back there, and since you vetoed the bathroom suggestion…"_

Bella dug her heels in on the sidewalk not feet from the rotating brass doors of the elegant hotel and refused to budge. Rosalie mentally prepared herself for Bella's surely upcoming fuss about the cost of the room.

Instead, Rosalie felt herself being pulled backwards and into another embrace, and responded in time as gentle lips met her own and Bella kissed her tenderly. _"Thank you," _she breathed into Rosalie.

Rosalie smiled into the kiss in response. She gasped slightly when Bella's tongue began to trace the outline of that smile. Rosalie figured that there were worse things in the world than making out outside the Carlyle, so she opened her mouth and gently welcomed Bella's soft tongue with her own. Bella fell into her body a bit after a few moments as they began to kiss more deeply, and Rosalie hummed in approval. She was sure she'd never get over how incredibly, amazingly different; and how unbelievably better it was to kiss Bella than anyone she'd even been with.

They kept the kiss slow and deliberate even though it had deepened significantly, both feeling more emotional than they'd expected.

"_Come on," _Rosalie urged after more than just a few minutes. _"Let's go upstairs. I even ordered some Cristal for you…" _Rosalie had intended to surprise her with the bottle later, but found herself so excited at the chance to make Bella happy that the words had just slipped out.

Bella's responding _"Rosalie Hale" _in a dramatic gasp as she swatted her playfully and pulled her in for one last kiss before the two beautiful girls walked inside was well worth it.

###

TBC


	25. Chapter 25

Ownership: Nothing but the story.

A/N: This chapter is just straight smut. Nothing more. So don't read ahead if you're not into that. It was actually originally part of the next chapter, but finishing the whole thing will take more time and I didn't want to make everyone wait too long for an update. So yup, this is just straight-up dirty smut. I'll update again as soon as I finish. Thank you so very much for the reviews, they're amazing to receive. Oh and PS the Carlyle is a real hotel; I should have picked another one, I (stupidly) didn't even make the Twilight connection when I wrote it in. In hindsight, I do recognize how lame using the "Carlyle" hotel is. I'm sorry, it's the closest nice hotel to their apartment building, I just wasn't thinking…

###

Rosalie had tried to keep things tender, and gentle, and affectionate – she _really_ had. When Bella began to kiss her in the elevator on the way up to their room at the Carlyle, Rosalie's only intention had been to make love to her. As much as she'd mentally cringed at her internal usage of the much-loathed verb, she knew that it truly was exactly what she'd wanted to do; to make love to her gorgeous girlfriend; to show Bella just how much she cared; just how much she _loved_ the incredible girl.

But as soon as those elevator doors shut, Bella had, for all intents and purposes, basically attacked her, and Rosalie's plans were forcibly abandoned.

She'd slammed Rosalie against the back wall immediately, and began to grope desperately at her breasts with one hand and rub her center aggressively with the other while she dominated the blonde with her insatiable lips and agile tongue. Rosalie groaned as Bella, within mere seconds of connecting their lips, had shoved her hand down and inside the waistband of Rosalie's pants and began to press evil fingers against her clit.

She moaned loudly as Bella's touch sent fire through her veins, and she returned Bella's frenzied kisses with equal intensity as the smaller girl pressed her into a corner and sucked the surprised blonde's wet, hot tongue ferociously.

Bella hooked a leg behind Rosalie's knee and dug short nails into her scalp as she used her hips to power her fingers into the drenched center of Rosalie's boy shorts, rocking and grinding in fervent tempo.

"_God Rosalie, you're so fucking sexy…"_

The whimpered moans and rapid breaths that filled the small space were overwhelming; the dark eyes she'd catch glimpses of between kisses, the soft hair that tickled her face, and the unyielding, electric fingers that bore down on her hyper-sensitive nub – Rosalie felt lightheaded; woozy.

Bella was making her dizzy.

She cried out desperately when Bella skimmed past her fuchsia boyshorts and slipped right down into her soaked folds. Coffee colored spheres gaped at Rosalie as the blonde's rosy mouth parted at the sensation of Bella's fingers probing into her wetness as they ran the length.

Bella's fingers were still somewhat cool from the frigid temperatures of the November night, and Rosalie quivered as they dipped shallowly into her center, toying with the tight opening before dragging back up and painting her clit with her juices.

"_Fuck Rose, you're so wet for me," _Bella groaned before sliding her tongue back into Rosalie's panting mouth. 

Dirty-talking Bella was even more difficult to refuse than usual, and it took every ounce of will-power Rosalie possessed to pull away and gasp for air.

"_Slow down Bella, we have all night and-"_

"_Shut up Rose, I don't care." _Bella drove her point home with a strong thrust as the lights on the side panel indicated that the old elevator was slowly approaching the eighth floor.

Bella had been playing with her in one way or another since early in the taxi ride, and having already been wound up since the backyard, Rosalie wasn't now sure if she could last much longer with two, then three of Bella's perfect fingers stroking and massaging the length of her slit, spreading her wetness and then suddenly rubbing feverishly on her slickened clit. She wrapped one of Rosalie's endlessly long, slender legs around her waist, spreading the blonde apart.

Rosalie felt herself collapse into the smaller girl as she panted and whimpered embarrassingly.

"_Bella, you know I can't control myself if-"_

"_I said shut up, I don't want you to control yourself" _Bella growled, another intonation of her voice that she'd begun to master as she reached behind them and stopped the elevator.

###

Bella tugged at the buttons on Rosalie's already un-done grey double-faced cashmere car coat before sliding her free hand back around the blonde's waist. She licked the length of her jaw provocatively and then met Rosalie's swollen lips in another bruising kiss. Her other hand was still hard at work rubbing Rosalie into a frenzy, and Rosalie could see white spots beginning to form at the corners of her eyes.

Bella's body was radiating warmth; her lips were ruthless; and she attacked the taller girl as if she hadn't seen her in years. Rosalie could feel the pad of Bella's middle finger right at the top of her nub, moving up and down in tiny, furious motions. All Rosalie could do in return was cling tightly to the impassioned brunette and weakly stroke the velvety tongue inside of her with her own.

"_Rosalie, please can I?"_ Even Bella's panting voice could barely hold her attention.

Rosalie didn't have time to think; she only had time to want. So she nodded yes, and moaned louder than Bella had thought was possible from her formerly quiet blonde lover when Bella brought that middle finger down and joined it with her pointer, kissed Rosalie profoundly, and then plunged them both inside of her.

Rosalie was suddenly throbbing; she began pulsing in a matter of only a few deep thrusts, and was only slightly able to move her hips to meet Bella's fingers as she started to come.

She broke from Bella's ravenous lips and dropped her head heavily onto the gorgeous brunette's slim shoulder as she removed a shaky hand from its spot clutching Bella's back and brought it between them. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rosalie must have known that they couldn't keep the elevator paused much longer without alerting the concierge, and she needed to finish. But she certainly wasn't conscious of this thought at the time.

All she knew was that she wanted her lips on Bella's neck, and Bella's palm on her clit as the girl fucked her.

Rosalie pressed her face into the tangle of silken hair and skin and began to kiss the sensitive spot behind Bella's ear as she covered the hand inside of her with her own, pressed Bella's palm into her clit and rubbed on it. And she pressed Bella's palm in hard.

And almost immediately, something released in the most incredible way and Rosalie's vision went white.

###

"_Bella," _Rosalie whispered between pants; waves of crazy, pleasurable tension still releasing. Bella's mouth was at her ear now, and the smaller girl was whispering to Rosalie as she came down, telling her different iterations of how beautiful she was and how she made Bella feel. She'd lost her sense of time, but knew that Bella had been holding her and whispering like this for at least a few minutes already.

Upon hearing Rosalie's voice, Bella smugly hummed _"mmm hmm?" _

"_I can't move yet, you have to start the elevator so we don't get busted…" _ Rosalie twitched yet again and clutched her girlfriend even tighter. Bella pulled her off of the wall and walked backwards while holding her until the brunette's own back was pressed against the button panel. Rosalie opened her eyes just enough to find the appropriate button, and with a jolt the elevator resumed its progress towards the eight floor.

"_I've never actually stopped an elevator before, Bella, I didn't even know that worked" _she breathed before mustering every ounce of wobbly strength she had to keep her head off of Bella's shoulder and kiss her gently.

She was surprised when Bella pushed her off slightly after only a few seconds.

"_Oh I don't think so…" _Bella's tone was devious; maybe even a little dangerous.

Rosalie snapped immediately to full-attention. Bella suddenly grabbed her by the collar and yanked her in violently. The blonde gasped as a familiar, urgent tongue forced its way back into her still-panting mouth and hips began grinding on her again. She started to pull away, but Bella's hands caught her by the back of the head and pulled them together even harder.

Rosalie could feel her heart thumping and her core winding back up. Bella was being _very_ aggressive.

"_Bella, what are you-"_

"_I said shut up, Rose." _ Bella growled the words into her mouth and ground her center onto Rosalie's thigh. Suddenly, Rosalie felt a twinge of pain as Bella's perfect teeth clamped down on her bottom lip.

"_Bella," _Rosalie moaned. _"Don't do that with me, I can't control myself if you don't stop." _Rosalie wasn't kidding. Bella didn't know what she was getting into. She didn't want Bella to know how much her aggression turned her on. How easily she bounced back after she came. How desperately she wanted to fuck her senseless when Bella behaved like this and how nervous she was that she'd scare Bella if she did. Her gorgeous, delicate, breakable Bella.

Who, at this moment, wasn't acting delicate or breakable in the slightest.

"_I told you," _Bella was now full-on snarling. _"Shut up Rosalie, I don't care. I just want you to fuck me." _

She bit Rosalie's lip _again_.

Rosalie realized that contrary to what she'd previously believed, Bella knew _exactly_ what she was getting into.

Rosalie grabbed the smaller girl by the waist and lifted her up, turning and throwing her into the wall that her own back had previously been pressed against. She quickly undid the brass buttons on Bella's pea coat and yanked the zipper of her hooded sweater down, groaning with need as Bella pressed into her so forcefully that it almost hurt. Bella was panting, her eyes deeply lidded but still hyper-alert and watching Rosalie intently as she inhaled sharply.

Rosalie lunged in like she was going to kiss Bella hard, and watched as Bella's eyes, which had immediately squeezed shut in anticipation, opened curiously when their lips did not connect.

"_Thumper," _Rosalie breathed and used her strong hands to still Bella's thrusting hips as she gazed at her fondly. "_You're a very aggressive little baby rabbit and I love it more than you can possibly fathom, but let's get to the room first, okay?"_ She gently put the smaller girl down and embraced her, pressing light kisses into her soft hair.

Instead of being upset, Bella just returned the hug with equal warmth. She stood on her tip-toes and nuzzled Rosalie's ear affectionately.

Rosalie loved how easily Bella adapted to her feelings and moods. Or more like _their_ feelings and moods when it came to sex. They were so in-sync it was getting kind of disgusting…

"_I love you, Rosie," _Bella whispered before kissing her tenderly.

"_Me too," _Rosalie murmured back.

###

The familiar "ding" of the elevator indicated that they'd arrived at their floor, and Bella giggled as Rosalie scooped her up and carried her off the elevator and towards the room. One of Bella's hands had made its way under Rosalie's soft cream sweater and was now tweaking her nipples through a flimsy fuchsia lace bra as Rosalie stumbled towards the door of suite 801.

"_God Rosalie, your breasts are so fucking perfect, I just want to lick every inch of them and then suck on your nipples until you scream my name…" _Bella bit into Rosalie's neck from her position slightly above Rosalie as she straddled the blonde and then sucked hungrily the mark she'd made, the pain of the brand sending yet another current of lust coursing through the model's bloodstream.

"_Jesus Bella, what has gotten into mmmmm –" _Bella was now soothing the tiny wound with wet kisses and gentle nips.

Her lips suddenly felt like lightening again. Rosalie had no idea how the two of them could go back and forth from tender moments to raw, unadulterated need in the span of mere seconds. But right now, she didn't really care.

Rosalie put Bella down in front of the door, and let the girl drag her into another heated kiss as she slipped the key card into the lock.

###

Once inside, Bella didn't even bother to take in the room; a beautiful, only slightly modest suite with elegant dark wood period furniture, an incredibly extravagant king-sized bed, and a superb view of Central Park. Rosalie had been staying in this specific room on and off since she was fifteen on the occasional night during the winter where she just needed to be by herself but snow made it too difficult to get downtown.

Instead, Bella raced through the door, tossed her coat and Rosalie's onto a loveseat, and grabbed the nearest chair she could find. It was a small, armless Edwardian desk chair that sat low to the ground, and she pushed Rosalie down into a seated position on it as soon as the blonde had set the top lock on the door.

Rosalie smirked, able to muster at least a trace of a seductive smile despite the lust that had completely over-ridden her, as Bella stepped back a few paces and began to strip, her almost-jet black eyes never leaving Rosalie's now dark emerald ones. She kicked off her converse easily and bit her lip temptingly as she pulled down her jeans and threw her faded red t-shirt in a corner, revealing her insanely sexy, slender body.

Rosalie ran fingers through flaxen locks, blowing a few stray pieces out of her face as she draped her statuesque figure over the small chair and watched her implausibly beautiful girlfriend tease her from a few feet away. Her seductive smirk quickly faded into a look of pure adoration as Bella shook out her unruly, shining hair and grinned sheepishly at Rosalie.

But the delighted smile gracing her refined features soon darkened into a sinful smolder. Rosalie thought she might drop dead as she watched Bella trail two fingers down to the center of her dampened light pink thong and begin to rub herself, eyes still fixed on Rosalie's with a look that suddenly was almost feral. The taller girl felt a growl form within the depths of her throat.

Rosalie began to undo the tab of her own slim cropped grey pants, but Bella darted in and caught her hands.

"_Ah ah ah," _she chided. _"That's MY job." _Rosalie hissed as Bella's hands, suddenly cool again, ran down her legs as she pulled the garment off of the blonde and then grasped her by the thighs and spread her open.

Bella's auburn hair was wild and her eyes even more so as she once again sat down on Rosalie's lap and straddled her. This seemed to be her position of choice tonight, and Rosalie wasn't complaining at all.

Rosalie shivered as warm, soft flesh met her own, and she pulled Bella in by the small of her back, kissing her slower but just as intently as the smaller girl pulled her sweater up. They broke away briefly so that Bella could bring it over Rosalie's head, and then connected again, both girls now reduced to only their bras and underwear.

Rosalie cupped Bella's cheeks greedily and exhaled sharply as she brought their lips together again, and Bella purred into her as their tongues began to stroke and thrust in delicious rhythm. Bella's tongue felt so forceful, so hot, and wet, and needy, but still so rhythmic. Even in desperation, neither girl ever kissed or touched the other too erratically. There was always some intent, some sense of timing to their movements.

Timing that felt fucking incredible.

Bella seemed to slow for a second as she pressed her almost naked body flush against Rosalie's and pushed her into the back of the chair. It was low enough to the ground that Bella's feet still rested flat on the floor despite the height her spot on Rosalie's lap added, and Bella used the leverage to grind intentionally into the blonde, whose own breath was speeding up again.

Rosalie was speechless; she felt like she was in a trance. She reached behind Bella's back and unclasped her bra, and whimpered as her beautiful, creamy breasts were released. She hadn't seen them yet, as she was still locked in a passionate kiss, but Rosalie could feel them against her skin, and her whimpering only increased as Bella moaned into her mouth while flicking off Rosalie's own bra so that their nipples finally grazed each other's hot flesh.

Rosalie enfolded Bella in her arms and pulled her in as tightly as she could, giving in to the sudden desire to try to consume the smaller girl. She needed her _so_ badly; so badly that she felt frightened.

This unexpected and _very _strange feeling that tugged her heart in a direction away from pure, simple lust caused Rosalie to break away from their kiss.

She looked at Bella, marveling at her porcelain skin and incredibly full, pink lips. Bella's suddenly shy smile only magnified the strange tugging.

"_Bella, I'm so…" _Rosalie couldn't finish her sentence. Bella leaned in and brushed her lips against Rosalie's gently, breathing _"it's okay, it's okay…" _ How on earth did Bella know?

"_I'm just so, God you're so," _Rosalie bit her lip and Bella inhaled sharply. Her newly acquired habit was more useful than she'd anticipated, as the slight pain of the nip helped Rosalie retain a modicum of focus and composure. And as Bella groaned, Rosalie realized that biting her lip also seemed to have the same effect on Bella as the beguiling girl's habit had on her.

Bella reached out and ran her thumb tenderly along Rosalie's jaw, gazing at Rosalie adoringly. They'd somehow managed another switch, and were now back to slow, deliberate movements and intense gazes. Bella's skin felt so soft; the pad of the thumb that pressed against the sculpted contour was _so soft_ – it was overwhelming, as usual.

"_Hey," _Bella dropped down and pressed her forehead against Rosalie's. Although she was mere inches away, Rosalie hadn't yet tried to touch her in her most intimate area, and she briefly wondered why. But Bella's loving gaze brought her back into the moment.

"_You okay?" _She whispered as she ran her other hand through silky blonde tresses. Rosalie gulped.

"_Yeah, it's just, I feel all these crazy things for you, and you, almost naked, straddling me on a chair, it's like, I can't even tell you how many times I've pictured this…" _Rosalie whispered, relishing the sensation of Bella's hot breath puffing on her lips as from only inches away.

"_You have?" _Bella asked sweetly, now stroking the shell of Rosalie's ear with her thumb. She quickly leaned in and kissed Rosalie softly before pulling back. _"Really?" _She breathed, tone slightly amazed.

"_Yeah, since, God, like MONTHS before you actually even kissed me…" _Rosalie couldn't muster a smile; she was too enraptured by the incredible beauty in front of her. She began to caress the delicate skin of Bella's back slowly, her long, elegant fingers ghosting up and down as she leaned in and pressed a kiss of her own to Bella's glistening lips.

"_You've wanted me for that long?" _Bella's whisper was barely audible, but now she sounded unquestionably astonished. Rosalie simply nodded, her eyes betraying her sudden neediness.

God, she would do _anything_ not to lose Bella now that she'd found her.

###

Rosalie expected another soft kiss after her admition, and was surprised when Bella suddenly grabbed her roughly by the hair and crashed their lips together. She began to grind into Rosalie feverishly, and dropped a hand to wrestle Rosalie's boyshorts off before the blonde even had time to register that she was no longer pulling her hair.

The room was dark; the only light came from the entranceway, but that was exactly where Bella sat on top of Rosalie on the small chair, and Rosalie could see _everything. _She lifted her hips and let Bella pull her underwear off, and didn't even realize that Bella had taken her own off as well until she felt an incredible wetness and heat rubbing against her stomach.

Bella clawed at her arms, digging her nails in, and Rosalie's brain suddenly went black.

"_Jesus Rosalie, mmm please, fuck me right now," _Bella demanded more than asked before shoving her tongue into the blonde's mouth.

Rosalie could barely keep up. The heat of Bella's pussy pressing into her stomach had her head swimming. Her last coherent thought formed, and she pulled away and panted _"don't you need me to get you ready or anythi-"_

"_Fuck no, can you feel how wet I am for you?" _Bella literally snarled as she raked her nails over Rosalie's sides and up her back. _"I've been wet like this since you first walked into the backyard tonight, oh please Rosie, please fuck me, please do it, I need you inside of me now, I need to feel you, please-"_

No more thoughts invaded Rosalie's mind. She cut Bella off as she pulled her in tightly with her left hand and plunged two fingers on her right deep into Bella's pussy. The smaller girl actually screamed and immediately began to pant. Rosalie pulled almost all the way out and penetrated her again even deeper, burying her fingers far inside of her and continuing this movement as Bella began to moan repeatedly.

Bella was jerking erratically, breathing hard and moving too much for Rosalie to really establish a pace, so Rosalie stilled her hips with her left hand and held Bella down, letting the girl simply feel how deep inside of her the blonde's fingers were. Bella moaned as Rosalie began to palm her clit.

"_Put your feet on the floor and use your legs baby…" _Thank God Bella was too aroused to focus on her words, because Rosalie was absolutely mortified that she'd actually just called her "baby," even if it was only whispered. Rosalie Hale did not do terms of endearment. She prayed Bella hadn't heard.

But whether or not she had, Bella listened to her directions, and slowly began to lift herself up as she rested her upper arms on Rosalie's shoulders and let her hands dangle somewhere behind the blonde. Rosalie leaned, in her rich, currently emerald eyes gazing at Bella with pure devotion, and pressed a gentle kiss to Bella's puffy pink lips. She felt Bella sigh loudly into her mouth and collapse into her somewhat.

Bella kept her forehead pressed against Rosalie's as she began to ride her fingers, using her legs to control her own pace. They stared deeply into each other, eyes no more than an inch apart. _"That's it my love, just like that," _Rosalie purred softly in encouragement.

Bella's center was so fucking hot and so incredibly wet, but somehow also so insanely tight, that Rosalie couldn't stop herself from uttering _"you feel so good baby, so fucking tight and good." _Her words must have sparked something in Bella, because the slender brunette groaned _"more" _and began to kiss Rosalie delicately between moans. Rosalie easily slid a third finger into her dripping center, and twitched involuntarily just from the sensation of it herself at the same time that Bella gasped at the added pressure and began to ride her harder.

They continued this way for a while, arms wrapped, foreheads pressed, breaths heavy, eyes locked and breaking only occasionally to kiss lightly or when Bella's lids squeezed shut from the pleasure Rosalie's fingers gave her as Bella's pussy brought her in deeper and deeper. _"Fuck, how are your fingers so long?" _Bella moaned at one point, and Rosalie had never been more grateful to be blessed with the combination of elegant, slender bone structure, twenty-one years of forced piano lessons, and unusual double joints than she was in that moment. She knew she could get deeper inside of Bella than almost any other woman, and she purred in appreciation for Bella's breathy comment.

The clenching of those incredibly snug, soft walls, combined with the friction they both felt from the base of Rosalie's hand as it rubbed against both their clits, was driving the blonde to her own climax, and after enough time watching Bella bounce hypnotically up and down on her, Rosalie knew she couldn't take it much longer.

She _had_ to watch the girl come. There was nothing more arousing to her in the entire world.

###

Rosalie curled the middle finger buried deep inside and pressed in when Bella rode up enough for her to touch that elusive, spongy spot.

"_Oh FUCK!" _Bella shouted as Rosalie's finger made contact. Rosalie felt the smaller girl's body spasm, and Bella's eyes squeezed tightly shut as she struggled to regain her rhythm, only to lose it once more as soon as she dropped back down and Rosalie hit it again.

"_FUCK," _Bella breathed, quieter this time. _"Is that what that is, Rosie?" _Rosalie bit her lip and nodded, knowing exactly what she was asking. Bella lifted up slower, and her eyes rolled back as Rosalie rubbed across it again. She could feel the brunette's legs getting weak. _"Oh God, Rosalie, I can't hold myself up if you do that, but it feels so good, I need it, I'm so close…" _

Rosalie already knew she was close; Bella had been "close" for ten minutes already, but Rosalie had expertly controlled the girl's sensations enough to build something bigger. Bella had already begged her over and over to finish her, but Rosalie refused.

"_Bella, don't worry, listen, I'm going to make you come harder than you ever have before, just listen to me," _Rosalie crooned her words as Bella jerked and shivered again from the curled finger. She tried to nod. _"I'll guide your hips, okay, but even if you feel like your legs are going to collapse, I want you to keep going. Find the spot where you feel me hitting it the most, and then ride me as fast as you can, but don't move up and down very far so I can keep hitting it. I'll do the rest, okay?"_

"_Fuck, I can't do it, I'm going to come any second," _Bella's walls were beginning to pulse and contract again. _"God you feel so good inside of me, oh God Rose, oh you make me feel so fucking good…"_

"_I can make you feel even better, just don't stop, even if you can barely stand, do you want to try it?" _Bella gasped and shook as Rosalie curled her finger even more.

"_Okay…"_ Bella started to move faster, but her legs were wobbly.

"_Baby lean your hips forward into me a little so I can hit it more…"_

"_Rosie I can't…" _Bella groaned. Her walls were pulsing harder now. Rosalie held her firmly with a strong left arm despite the sweat that coated both of their bodies. She began to move Bella up and down, exactly where she wanted her, relishing the feel of Bella's body as the girl held onto her desperately almost as much as she reveled in the feeling of her core as she contracted and spasmed around Rosalie's hand.

She started to move Bella harder and faster, knowing how crucial it was not to let the smaller orgasms take over.

Rosalie was rewarded with a scream as she pumped in and out of the gorgeous girl, one finger never quite leaving that elusive nerve bundle.

"_Oh FUCK, oh FUCK," _Bella did her best to move as she screamed, the pad of Rosalie's finger pressing harder and harder into her g-spot as Bella's tiny movements helped her rub it up and down. Rosalie used all of her strength to keep Bella moving as she whispered _"don't stop Bella, that's good, that's perfect, you're doing perfect, don't stop baby…"_

"_ROSE ROSE ROSE, I'm already coming, FUCK, ROSE, ROSE ROSE," _sweat poured down Bella's flushed cheeks as she bucked and Rosalie kept her moving up and down. Only the whites of her eyes were visible now as she screamed Rosalie's name, but Rosalie wouldn't let her stop. Fingernails had long since broken the skin where they'd found purchase on Rosalie's back, but the pain was heavenly. Bella's head fell to her shoulder and Rosalie shivered as she felt warm, swollen lips rest on the skin of her neck and feverish breaths envelop every inch they met in heat and tingles. Rosalie willed herself to stay focused on the girl, and returned her concentration to the spongy, rough patch she pressed and rubbed furiously. She gasped as Bella screamed her name even louder. As she bounced a severely weakened Bella up and down on top of her, she knew from the girl's hyperventilations that she would have to stop soon.

"_Rose, I can't feel my legs, I can't feel my arms, I'm on fire, holy shit oh FUCK what are you doing to me, oh my god this feels so fucking good…" _Liquid was gushing past Rosalie's fingers and all over her hand.

"_Its okay baby, almost there…" _ Rosalie crooned.

"_FUCK, ROSE!" _Bella was no longer moving now, completely collapsed on top of her, and Rosalie thought for a second that she should stop for good, but the frantic voice said otherwise.

"_I can't fucking move ugh GOD don't stop ugh something, mmm mmm mmm, something's going to happen oh God Rose Rose Rose Rose," _Rosalie's six sense somehow guided her movements, and despite the fact that everything in Bella's body, every spasm and contraction and shake told her that she was done, Rosalie knew that she wasn't.

She leaned back and slouched down far enough that she was sure Bella wouldn't fall if she didn't hold her for a second, and as her fingers continued to torture her g-spot, Rosalie dipped her other hand between them and readied herself.

"_Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose Rose," _Rosalie ignored the chanting and the delicious tingle of the heavy breath upon her, and turned her head to access Bella's neck.

Suddenly, she felt the elusive twitch she'd been looking for.

In one quick movement, Rosalie simultaneously dragged her nail across Bella's spongy spot, pinched and then rolled Bella's clit firmly between the thumb and forefinger of her other hand, and bit her neck hard enough to almost break the skin.

"_FFFUUUCCCKKK!" _

Bella's scream pierced her eardrum, and Rosalie quickly pulled out and caught the girl before she completely slid off her body and onto the floor.

###

She held Bella for fifteen minutes, nuzzling her and caressing her, tracing soothing patterns on her back, and stroking her messy brown locks as she eased the exhausted girl down. Five minutes into it, Bella was finally able to form one sentence; _"do you love me, Rose?" _

And Rosalie couldn't help but reply with a breathy _"yes." _

After murmuring a barely audible _"I love you," _herself, Bella didn't speak again for another ten minutes; she just lay wrapped in Rosalie's arms, face buried in pale, flaxen hair and breath slowly returning to normal as she planted occasional soft, tender kisses in the crook of her girlfriend's neck and sighed contentedly.

###

TBC

*More plot soon, just hang in there. I couldn't bear to skip this scene, sorry.


	26. Chapter 26

Ownership: Nothing but the story

A/N: Just a short one leading up to the inevitable big Rosalie reveal chapter that should be posted sometime during Thanksgiving. Thank you again and again and again for the reviews. They keep me up at night fleshing these chapters out.

Oh and PS – Mad spelling and grammar errors will be found in this chapter. Sorry, I have a good excuse but I think it's silly to assume you guys care why I'm a Strunk and White mess right now…

###

Bella sat lazily between Rosalie's legs, her back resting on Rosalie's chest, as the blonde absentmindedly played with the fingers that were interlocked with her own. It was two in the morning – they'd been swathed in the soft white sheets of the massive hotel bed, kissing and joking and making love for hours. After finally recovering from the most intense orgasm Bella had ever experienced, she'd urged Rosalie for more, and Rosalie had carefully laid her down on the bed and fulfilled her wishes.

"_Rose?"_ Bella murmured as she turned slightly and cuddled into the light-golden haired beauty.

"_Mmm hmm?" _Rosalie purred her response contentedly. Again tonight she'd let Bella touch her and do things to her that she hadn't let anyone do before, and she'd been rewarded with one of the most blissful experiences of her life.

"_I don't ride you about never telling me about yourself because I'm trying to be annoying," _Bella twisted her head and looked up at Rosalie through thick, dark lashes. _"I do it because I plan to be around for a while, and I want to know who you are."_

"_I know," _Rosalie sighed, and continued to trace the outline of Bella's hands with her fingers. _"I was actually going to ask you if you'd come downtown with me and Emmett next Thursday. I want you to meet Tommy and see his band play, and kind of show you something private, um I guess…" _Rosalie hesitated as she trailed off.

"_I'd love to, are you going to give me a clue what it is you're going to show me?" _Bella twisted fully and pulled Rosalie down from her position propped against the pillows so that now they lay together on the mattress facing one another.

"_Nope, it's a surprise," _Rosalie grinned sleepily. Bella rolled her eyes and scooted in closer to her gorgeous girlfriend. _"Bella, I want to tell you, I'm going to try, okay, I promise. I want you to know about me. Just be patient."_

"_I'm not planning on going anywhere, I guess I can wait," _the smaller girl huffed. Rosalie's toned, leaned arms encircled her and rotated her so that she could pull Bella's back into her chest. Bella immediately adjusted and pressed herself into Rosalie.

"_Rosie, what are we doing right now?" _Bella's voice was teasing; mischievous.

"_We're spooning, beautiful girl," _Rosalie whispered in her ear as she brought the covers over them and tucked a king-sized pillow under their heads. _"See, I can change…"_

"_Mmmm, yes you can, I'm very proud," _Bella purred back, feeling utterly sated at the feeling of Rosalie holding her close.

###

Emmett put two fingers to his lips and whistled for a cab the same way his sister did, a piercing noise that Bella envied the two siblings for knowing how to make. He held a giant golf umbrella over Bella chivalrously, shielding her from the frozen, driving mid-November rain as he helped her into the taxi.

Upon settling in the cab, he looked Bella up and down, a friendly smile on his lips.

"_What?" _Bella asked.

'_You look perfect for my sister, she told me how much she loves you in skirts." _Bella was indeed wearing an outfit specifically intended for Rosalie; a short black denim mini-skirt, trusty black chucks, and underneath her hooded grey wool toggle coat, a black pinstriped tuxedo vest she'd borrowed from Alice over a white ribbed wife beater. Black lace bra straps were visible running down her back, and she could practically hear her gorgeous blond girlfriend growling in approval.

"_You think she'll like it?" _Bella asked, curious as to why Emmett looked so pleased.

"_Yup, of course." _Emmett sat back in his seat as they began the long journey from the Upper East Side down to The Knitting Factory, a nightclub that had recently relocated to Tribeca. They were meeting Rosalie at the club at 10, as she had some kind of typically vague meeting to attend beforehand.

"_Hey Em, how do I get your sister to open up to me more, I mean, she never tells me anything…" _Bella's question was genuine; no trace of bitterness or sarcasm in her tone. She really did want to know how to get the beautiful girl to talk to her. She knew there was something wrong; something had happened to her Rose, and she wanted to figure it out. She wanted to know what hurt her so that she could make it better. She wanted that more than anything…

"_Beats me," _he responded, but Bella picked up the trace of evasiveness in his voice. _"She never tells me anything either."_

"_Yeah but can you honestly say you don't know what she does all day, or what her life was like before 2008?" _Bella raised an eyebrow at him. She knew he was bluffing.

Emmett groaned.

"_Fine, I know what she does all day, it's nothing bad, I promise you, Rosalie is just very private…"_

"_Em, I want to be with your sister, like, forever. And she clearly doesn't trust me enough to tell me anything." _Bella's voice was slightly pained. It hurt that Rosalie wouldn't open up. She didn't know how to earn the trust she knew she needed from the elusive model.

"_No, it's not a question of trust, Rosalie trusts you." _Emmett sighed and looked awkwardly around the cab. _"You really do love her, don't you?"_

"_Yeah," _Bella breathed. _"I really do."_ And she really did. Overwhelmingly so.

"_Okay, listen, I'll help you, but if you give me up to Rosalie, you're dead. I'll murder you, I swear to God…" _Emmett leaned towards Bella and spoke seriously.

"_I'm only doing this for her own good. Rosalie trusts you, but she just needs to be pushed in order to let you in, and if YOU do it she'll just be a huge pain in the ass…" _

Bella giggled as Emmett rolled his eyes. _"It's already pretty big that you're coming here tonight, you'll see why, but I know it's not enough, so I'll try to push her a little, okay?"_

The beautiful girl nodded appreciatively.

"_I know this is annoying to ask, but do you think she loves me, Em? I'm not just a phase or something?"_

Emmett chuckled. _"God girls are so freaking insecure. No trust me, you're NOT a phase, she definitely loves you. I told you it would take time for her to say it back, and I'm proud of you for saying it to her anyway, little one." _

He mussed her hair affectionately. Sometimes Emmett really did feel like her big brother, despite Bella being a good four years older than the boy. She knew the fact that Emmett was willing to help her was significant. He was extremely protective of his sister; that was easy enough to fathom.

"_What is Rosalie like as a sister, Em?"_

"_Um, she's really smart, and wise, and she takes care of me. Rosalie would do anything for me, and she'd kill anyone that tried to hurt me. Literally, which can be a bad thing sometimes. But she's always been the person I've looked up to the most. Bella, you can't imagine how strong she is. I could never handle some of things I know she's handled. But Rosalie is tough, you know. You see this different side of her; even from the onset, Rosalie has always been different with you."_

"_How so?" _Bella eyed Emmett intently.

"_She's more relaxed around you, like funnier, softer. My sister can be really, really cold - with you, it's like she's more herself. She's like, warmer. The bitchy side of Rosalie that you've seen – that's nothing compared to how she usually is. Or used to be, I should say. You kind of changed all of that."_

"_I did, for real?" _Bella was astonished.

"_For real, why do you think I haven't gotten you fired and drowned you in the East River for breaking her heart last month?" _He chuckled sarcastically.

"_It's only because I know you're good for her and I want you guys to work out. I like you Bella. And I especially like how you stand up to her. I don't know if it's because you're clueless, or fearless, or just indifferent because you happen to be just as hot, but you're not afraid of my sister, and you treat her like she's just a person. Which she obviously is, but most people either cow-tow to her and kiss her ass or resent her and try to undermine her like your sister does. But not you, you like, GET Rosalie, I can tell. And I know you love her. Just like I know she loves you, I mean, Jesus, remember that night WAY back when I interrupted you guys after your friend had died, so I made fun of her for letting you call her Rose and she just snapped at me, like basically 'shut up, she can call me that.' I mean Bella, she's NEVER let anyone call her 'Rose" in her entire life and now you do it all the time. And she LIKES it! You're like the fucking Rosalie-whisperer…"_

Emmett started to laugh deeply, and Bella couldn't help but join in as the boy started neighing and whinnying like a horse. _"I'll help you get her to open up, okay? Just know it's not you, it's just her, and it will take her some time, so tread carefully, okay sport?" _He tousled Bella's hair again.

"_Emmett!" _Bella yelped. _"How can I look good for her if you keep messing up my 'do?"_

"_Sorry kiddo, sorry…"_

###

Emmett easily by-passed the line and nodded his greetings to the bouncer as he made his way into the packed club, which was more like a giant theatre. If Bella was astonished by how many people were waiting in the freezing rain to get _into_ the club, she was even more astonished by how many people were already inside. The Knitting Factory was so packed one could barely move.

"_Hop on my back," _he ordered Bella, and the smaller girl briefly wondered what was with the Hale children's obsession with carrying other people, until a slim hand ran down her back and the familiar sparks told her that it was indeed Rosalie rubbing her back.

"_Hey," _Rosalie hugged her brother briefly before gathering Bella up into a tight embrace and kissing her softly on the mouth. _"I just got here, but I figured I'd wait by the door so I could actually find you guys." _

Bella couldn't help but think that Rosalie looked nothing short of magnificent in her silver grey, subtly metallic halter with some kind of jeweled neckline and another pair of skinny grey cropped pants. She towered over Bella, this time in a pair of black d'orsays, and Bella stood on the tips of her converse to kiss the stunning beauty back a second time, smiling adoringly up at her.

Rosalie smiled back, but then quickly whipped her head back to face her brother. _"Emmy, get up front and center, I have like a fifteen minute conference call that the manager is letting me take upstairs and then I'll join you guys." _

Bella looked at her curiously. _"Don't worry, Thumper, Emmett will take good care of you. See that guy on stage –" _Bella squinted in the direction of Rosalie's pointing finger all the way over across the expansive room to an attractive, slender young guy with a mop of blond hair in a black "Parental Advisory, Explicit Content" Tee on stage belting out what Bella only just realized was a very good cover of Poison's "Talk Dirty to Me" to an enthusiastic crowd.

"_-That's Tommy,"_ Rosalie continued. "_He's already most of the way through this set, I think he has like three songs to go and then he'll break, and I'll find you before he starts the last one, okay my gorgeous little bunny?"_ Rosalie leaned in and pecked her nose, and then pulled her into another tight embrace, seemingly overwhelmed by how happy she was to see the smaller girl.

Bella beamed and nodded into the crook of her neck. _"Hurry back Rose, I missed you so much today."_

"_I'll hurry," _Rosalie whispered back and pecked her lips one more time, a devilish grin plastered across her sculpted face. She winked and ducked under a velvet rope that cordoned off some stairs that Bella hadn't even noticed, and Emmet slung her on his back before she had even a second to collect herself, grabbing a cold bottle of Jack that Rosalie had mysteriously handed to him before barreling through the almost impenetrable throng of revelers like a hot knife through butter.

"_How can you have your own bottle at a club, isn't that forbidden?" _Bella shouted in his ear over the din as they cut through the crowd.

"_Not for a Hale it's not!" _Emmett shouted gleefully as he carved a path to the stage.

###

When they finally made it front and center, with Emmett ignoring countless threats and protests as he barged through, Tommy's band had just started "Cherry Pie," and Tommy dropped his strumming hand long enough to reach down and high five Rosalie's brother enthusiastically. Emmett helped Bella out of her coat and handed it, as well as his, to a security guard that had suddenly appeared next to them. The guard also received a high five and friendly greeting from Rosalie's imposing but incredibly congenial baby brother.

Bella marveled at how Rosalie and her brother just seemed to know _everyone._

She and Emmett danced and sang to the rest of the song, and belted out both "Bad Medicine" and "Up All Night" before the lights dimmed on stage and the band exited for a break. Bella joked and laughed with the handsome boy as if he was her own brother while they traded swigs of the ice cold bottle of bourbon and made fun of each other while they waited for the next set.

Rosalie, elusive as always, was nowhere to be found.

###

The lights on the stage were completely off, and after about fifteen minutes, the entire club suddenly darkened. Bella appreciated the hand that Emmett placed protectively on her lower back as the hulking boy moved her in front of him and out of the way of the throngs of people that had started pushing aggressively to get closer to the stage.

Bella worried that Rosalie hadn't been able to get to them, as the crowd was so thick and tightly packed. She enjoyed Emmett immensely, but she was growing increasingly anxious to see her girlfriend. Just knowing that Rosalie was in the building had set her body on delicious edge, and she could already almost feel the arms that she expected to catch sneaking around her waist in surprise any second now…

"_LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I PROMISED YOU AN EIGHTIES ROCK SHOW TONIGHT, AND WE ALL KNOW A GOOD ROCK SHOW WOULDN'T BE COMPLETE WITHOUT OUR FAVORITE GUEST GUITARIST…" _The crowd erupted into screams as Tommy's voice boomed over the speakers from the blackened stage.

"_Why are they screaming so loud all of a sudden, Em?" _Bella shouted back in Emmett's ear. _"And where the hell is your sister?"_

"_The guitarist he's talking about only plays with them once a month, and he's really, really good." _Emmett shouted back over the roar of the crowd in the practically pitch-black club. _"And I don't know where the fuck Rosalie is, she'll be back any second…" _Bella didn't look at Emmett, but it would have been too dark to see him if she had, and thankfully so, because he wasn't able to hide the knowing smirk that had formed on the lips of his handsome face as soon as he'd heard Bella's question.

"_OUR FIRST SONG OF OUR FINAL SET TONIGHT IS DEDICATED TO A CERTAIN GORGEOUS BRUNETTE IN THE FRONT ROW, AND I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT HER EYES ARE ONE HUNDRED TIMES MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE ONES I'M ABOUT TO SING ABOUT…"_

Bella felt adrenaline rush her system as the familiar feeling that Rosalie was up to something crept up on her.

Suddenly, a spotlight hit a slender, tall figure who stood with their back to the crowd on top of an amp in the center of the stage near the back wall. Bella giggled as she took in the guitarist's outfit. Whomever it was had a killer body, but they were wearing worn low black chucks, loose cropped and very ripped jeans with a navy bandana tied to one of the belt loops, a fitted white tank top, black, curly hair, and a top hat with silver conchos around it.

Bella was ecstatic; Rosalie had promised the beautiful brunette that tonight she'd hear their favorite kind of music, and Bella had just realized that she was watching an actual Slash impersonator on stage. _"Oh my God Emmett, where the FUCK is your sister, I'm going to kill her…"_

The beginning guitar melody of "Sweet Child 'O Mine" cut through the air as the lone spotlight stayed fixed on the figure on the amp as he riffed through the introductory notes perfectly.

Bella squealed and shouted at Emmett _"Emmett, I'm serious, where the fuck is Rosalie, she can't miss this, we love this song!" _She started to bounce up and down; whoever this guitarist was, they were playing the opening riff of her favorite song absolutely expertly, something she'd _never _thought she'd get to hear live.

A second spotlight kicked in on the bassist as he began his part, and then a third when the drums started to beat.

And then Bella's mouth dropped to the ground as a torrent of screams erupted from the crowd.

###

Rosalie Hale had just thrown the top hat and fake wig to the floor as she jumped off the amp and landed facing forward, aviators covering sparkling green eyes and cigarette stub between full pink lips as she shook her long blond hair out and launched into the song. Despite the fact that her fingers were working the frets and strings at about a million miles an hour, Rosalie was somehow able to lower her sunglasses for a split second when the first verse kicked in and caught Bella's eye.

The girl's shocked expression clearly delighted her, because Rosalie smiled brighter than Bella had thought she'd ever seen as she flicked the aviators back up and began to move into the chorus.

Bella was utterly, completely astonished.

"_Holy fucking shit Emmett, you little liar, how the fuck does your sister know how to do this?" _Emmett laughed at Bella's shouted words and bent down, curling an arm under Bella's legs and hoisting her up so that she somehow sat on his massive arm with her head now at his 6'4' height so she could see better.

She watched as Rosalie took in her brother's actions in from the stage and laughed, her gorgeous, flaxen hair shining and pearly white teeth flashing as she dove into the first solo without even looking down at her fingers.

Bella felt euphoric, like a groupie or something. Her entire body was humming with nerves and excitement. She screamed and shouted, her stomach winding round and round itself as she watched the incredible girl play one and then two of the hardest and (in her mind) greatest guitar solos in history.

###

Rosalie whipped the crowd into a frenzy, clearly having mastered the song to the point where she could strut the stage, stooping and arching and dancing across it as she flew through the notes.

Bella was utterly mesmerized.

She was going to _marry_ this girl, Goddammit.

Right before the third, most difficult solo hit, Rosalie pushed her sunglasses up out of her eyes and onto her head so she could met Bella's gaze. Bella blushed furiously and grinned. Rosalie was just so…she couldn't even thing of a word to do the gorgeous blonde justice.

As soon as the solo began, Rosalie jumped forward, sliding on her knees until she stopped only inches away from Bella and watched the wide-eyed brunette with a devilish smirk as she ripped the incredible piece out, her mouth moving occasionally to grimace dramatically or bite her lower lip like an actual rock star as she played the solo to Bella on her knees. Her fingers whipped up and down faster and faster, but she didn't even need to look at the strings; instead she just watched the brunette, face contorted into dramatic grimaces and lip bites that made Bella laugh, but eyes smoldering in a way that made her feel quite the opposite.

Bella gulped as her nerves twitched and heat pooled lower down.

The crowd absolutely roared as Rosalie utterly destroyed the third solo and then popped up to a mic, blew the cigarette butt into the crowd, and began to sing "_where do you go" _with Tommy as the refrain kicked in.

She hadn't stopped looking at Bella for a single second.

###

"_She loves you, you know," _Emmett shouted in her ear. _"She really, really loves you." _He dropped a beaming Bella to the ground for a split second and then hoisted her back up with his other arm. The boy was unbelievably strong, much like his sister, although in not nearly as dainty a package.

Both Emmett and Bella had screamed so loud by the end of the song that they were horse, but Rosalie was nowhere near from finishing. Tommy's voice boomed through the club:

"_THIS IS FOR RICKY AT THE BAR WHO'S BEEN REQUESTING THIS FOR MORE WEEKS THAN I CAN COUNT – SORRY I COULDN'T MASTER IT, RICK, BUT AT LEAST I BROUGHT IN THE GIRL WHO COULD…"_

Drums beat twice and Bella almost considered jumping off of Emmett's arm when Rosalie began the notes to Van Halen's "Eruption", wanting to get down only on account of being afraid that he'd feel how soaked her jeans were. She was so turned on she thought she could die. Rosalie Hale, her girlfriend, could play "Eruption" on the guitar? And do it while smirking and winking at her while riling up the crowd like an actual rockstar?

Bella giggled as Rosalie rolled her eyes playfully at Bella before dropping down to focus on her fingers; the song was clearly way too hard to allow her to lose her concentration, and even Emmett uttered an astonished _"fuck" _as Rosalie rolled through it.

"_She's definitely been practicing, she'd never been this good at Eruption, she sounds like the real Van Halen tonight!" _He yelled at Bella enthusiastically.

The mixture of pride and desire that filled Bella's senses as she watched Rosalie play was incredible. She was mesmerized.

When Rosalie finished, the crowd absolutely exploded.

"_TRY FINDING ANOTHER GUITARIST THAT WILL PLAY THAT LIVE FOR YOU, MOTHERFUCKERS!" _Rosalie's flaxen haired best friend Tommy riled the screaming crowd even more, and Bella gazed adoringly at Rosalie as the blonde slipped over and whispered in his ear. Tommy stood back, and Rosalie took the main mic.

Before she could speak, the screaming got more intense, and Bella melted as Rosalie looked down sheepishly and muttered a few 'thank you's' into the microphone. She motioned for the crowd to quiet down, and they did so immediately.

"_HEY GUYS, THANKS FOR COMING OUT," _Rosalie's voice was sexy; huskier than normal. A few _"I love you Rosalie's"_ rang through the crowd – clearly this wasn't the first time Rosalie had performed with her friend. Men started wolf-whistling as Rosalie rolled her neon green eyes.

"_ALRIGHT, THIS NEXT SONG IS ALSO DEDICATED TO THE INSANELY HOT BRUNETTE IN THE FRONT ROW THERE" _Rosalie pointed directly at Bella and more whistles filled the air. _"AND IT'S IN HONOR OF THE SHIRT I MANAGED TO GET HER OUT OF NOT ONE WEEK AGO TODAY…" _Rosalie smirked at the crowd seductively and the explosion of screams and whistles was almost deafening.

The girl _really_ knew how to work a crowd.

She winked at the audience and stalked right over to Bella, slung her Les Paul behind her back, curled her finger at Bella in a "come hither" motion, and leaned down and kissed the brunette softly, teasing the audience. Emmett had already hoisted Bella up and onto his shoulders in one fluid motion.

Bella could feel herself blush ferociously, but Rosalie's quick whisper of _"I owe you, okay" _calmed her nerves before Rosalie dove in and French-kissed her in front of the entire crowd.

When Rosalie finally pulled back, Bella realized that she'd never heard a crowd roar like it was currently roaring in her entire life.

Rosalie flipped the guitar back in front of her effortlessly and began the intro to the Scorpions "Rock You Like A Hurricane," as she beamed at Bella and then Tommy.

"_Like I said Bells," _Emmett shouted as he lifted her off of his shoulders. _"She really fucking loves you."_

###

Bella and Emmett screamed and sang as the band went from the Scorpions to a perfect covers of "Here I Go Again" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me," and laughed along with the crowd as Tommy dedicated a more recent song, "Cold Hard Bitch," to his blonde best friend. The crowd seemed to know every word, and Emmett explained to Bella that Tommy's band had quite a following and always sang this song when Rosalie played with them. After a particularly incredible, perfect cover of "November Rain" (complete with a very imposing bouncer stepping in to play rhythm guitar while Tommy worked the keyboards with a dramatic flair that was Axel-worthy), Rosalie suddenly took the front mic again.

"_ALRIGHT YOU GUYS, TOMMY HERE GOT A LOT OF NASTY EMAILS AFTER I DIDN'T CLOSE WITH THIS LAST MONTH, SO…" _The crowd was back to their ear-splitting screams upon hearing her words. Tommy laughed but stayed at his spot behind the keyboards as Rosalie began to sing an old Lita Ford song that Bella was surprised that anyone but her remembered.

But clearly, the entire crowd did, because they sang along to every word, as Rosalie's amazingly good, slightly raspy voice filled the entirety of the boisterous, jam-packed bar.

When the refrain kicked in, Rosalie sang directly to Bella:

"_But I know what I like… I know I like dancing with you"_

She grinned at the smaller girl.

"_And I know what_ _you like… I know you like dancing with me"_

Bella laughed, keeping her eyes trained on Rosalie's, and Rosalie cocked an eyebrow.

Bella sang the next words back to her with the rest of the crowd:

"_Kiss me once…Kiss me twice…Come on pretty baby, kiss me deadly…"_

Rosalie's smile looked like it was going to swallow her sculpted features whole when Bella mouthed the words back at her. Bella swore she could detect just a hint of bashfulness behind the grin, but Rosalie expertly masked it for the crowd.

###

The lights on the stage dimmed after the song finished, but the crowd just cheered and howled louder and louder. Shrieks and yelps were quickly replaced by a deafening echo of "_ONE MORE SONG, ONE MORE SONG" _and Bella, as much as she was desperate to get to her girlfriend, couldn't help but join in the chant. People were banging on the bar and stomping on the floor as they chanted and shouted for an encore.

Bella just about screamed the vocal chords straight out of her throat as a guitar began the opening riff of "Thunderstruck" and the spotlight once again turned right back onto Rosalie.

Bella and Emmett watched Rosalie and Tommy sing and dance through the entire song together, with Emmett briefly shouting to her that this was the first song the two friends had performed together, back when they were twelve, and he couldn't believe how good they'd gotten at it.

_It's like I'm at an actual AC/DC concert, but with hot chicks_, Bella through as she screamed and sang along.

There had to have been at least a thousand people in the packed room, and Tommy and Rosalie both had managed to change their voices to mimic the Brian Johnson perfectly, much to the uproarious crowd's delight.

Rosalie slid down on her knees a second time and briefly stroked Bella's cheek with her strumming hand while her fingers tapped the strings rapidly with her left, and Bella nuzzled into her touch, enduring the prickles on her skin when the beguiling blonde had to pull away.

Rosalie and Tommy ran all over the stage, now hooked up to cordless mikes, and did a hysterical tandem guitar solo routine that had them both playing almost on their backs at one point as they _both_ hit the solo notes, making the club practically shake as the notes pierced the air and the audience rumbled and thundered, practically mimicking the fake thunderclaps coming from the keyboard in the back.

The crowd was going absolutely bananas, and Bella felt, as always with Rosalie, like she was in a movie. Or a dream.

Whatever, this couldn't _possibly_ be her life…

###

Emmett barreled down the stairs to the caverns underneath the club, Bella firmly affixed to his back as he pushed past the throngs of party-goers vying to get to the band. They pushed into the crowd of the loosely guarded VIP band area as they made their way to Rosalie and Tommy. The brunette was so excited she was afraid she might burst, or at the very least completely embarrass herself at some point soon. Her hands were shaking in anticipation, and her heart was working so hard that she was sure that her pulse was visibly throbbing on from its spot on her neck.

She needed to see her girlfriend, and _fast:_ she was afraid that if she didn't, that the blonde might disappear – she felt like her carriage would turn into a proverbial pumpkin at any second. She thought again, _there is simply no way this can be my life now… _

Emmett squeezed and shoved his way through the crowd downstairs as best he could, with the slight brunette clinging tightly to his muscular shoulders. Bella tried to temper the smile that stretched her lips almost to the point of discomfort when she finally saw Rosalie in the distance, sitting in a booth on a red leather banquette and laughing with some random attractive people as she sipped some kind of translucent honey colored drink, probably bourbon. Bella took in her incredible, creamy, almost pale but still slightly golden toned arms as they gestured energetically while she engaged in conversation with her friends. She gasped as the statuesque model crossed one leg languidly over the other and smiled insincerely at some random girl's words, but ran her fingers through her white-gold hair and licked her lips with obvious disinterest.

Her body, all tight, leanly muscled limbs couldn't even compete with the incredible beauty of her face. Rosalie was somehow exotically beautiful and yet noble and patrician at the same time. She was absolutely stunning.

And even more stunning as a breathtaking smile graced her own features when she finally saw Bella.

Bella gave up fighting the grin that she reflected back – the sight of her girlfriend was just so overwhelming and, as lame as it was, thrilling to her that her mouth curved in an even broader smile without her mental consent.

Emmett placed Bella down and she pushed her way over to embrace the gorgeous blonde, who had now stood up and was gesturing for the crowd to let Bella through. Bella was almost there, and she giggled as she watched Rosalie boss people out of her way.

But a flurry of limbs caught her before she reached Rosalie.

"_Bella!" _A deep baritone exclaimed. _"I've heard so much about you, I can't believe Rosalie is finally letting me meet you!" _Bella pulled back from the enthusiastic embrace to realize that it was Tommy who was now clutching her and bouncing up and down excitedly.

"_Good to meet you too, Tom-"_

"_Hey Tommy, hands off," _Rosalie's firm, cool voice cut through the room. Tommy groaned theatrically and reluctantly released her. Rosalie beamed as she pulled Bella into her arms, embracing her tightly and holding her close as Bella felt her smile brightly in her hair. _"This is MY girl, no one else touches her…"_

Tommy joked with Rosalie as the taller girl sat back onto the low, red banquette and brought Bella down and onto her lap. Bella cuddled into her, relieved that Rosalie was indeed very much real still. The blonde pulled away enough to meet Bella's eyes.

Rosalie's were that otherworldly, now quite light neon green, and as they met her own, they made Bella shiver. Bella noticed Emmett sit down next to Tommy on Rosalie's left and exchange greetings, but Rosalie didn't seem to notice any of it. She only had eyes for Bella.

"_So did you like it?" _Rosalie grinned as she questioned the smaller girl on her lap, elegant hands rubbing Bella's back affectionately. Bella nodded as she beamed back, and leaned in to catch Rosalie's lips as she suddenly giggled for no reason in particular. _"I mean, normally I'd act all cool and indifferent right now Bella, but I've been planning this since the day we drove to the marina, and I'm just so excited that I got to play for you, which is so weird that I'm excited but whatever, everything with you is weird so I'm just going to go with it, but either way, did you like it, did you?" _

Rosalie's ramblings caught the attention of both her brother and her best friend.

"_Oh my God Rose, of course I liked it, I can't believe you can do that, I mean, where were you hiding that, I would have died even if you'd just taken me to a concert where anyone played those songs, but with you playing them, I mean, FUCK!"_ Bella brought her in for another kiss, but then broke away. _"I mean Rosalie, I think I literally stopped breathing when I first saw you, and shit when you played that INSANE solo to me, and then when you kissed me in front of everyone, which you're so dead for, by the way, but I mean FUCK, I died, I think I actually died, I thought it was a dream, I know that's totally gay but it was THAT incredible…_

Neither girl realized how intently the two boys listened in on their conversation.

"_I know, I mean, I don't want to sound cocky but I knew you'd love it," _Rosalie gushed. _Rosalie gushed? _

"_But I just knew how good I was at guitar and I've wanted to play for you for so long Bella and it's crazy because I've never wanted to play for anyone at all much less like this and fuck did I mention how hot you look tonight, I mean, holy Jesus Bella, that vest and the beater, shit you look so fucking sexy, you were so distracting and gorgeous and…"_

_###_

"_Who the FUCK is that girl?" _Tommy yelled to Emmett.

"_That's Bella, Tom," _Emmett retorted. _"She's the Rosalie-whisperer…"_

###

TBC

PS – Rosalie's set list:

Sweet Child O' Mine – Guns N' Roses

Eruption – Van Halen

Rock You Like A Hurricane – The Scorpions

Here I Go Again (On My Own) – Whitesnake

Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard

November Rain – Guns N' Roses (duh)

Kiss Me Deadly – Lita Ford

Thunderstruck – AC/DC

Before that, Tommy played Poison's "Talk Dirty To Me;" Warrant's "Cherry Pie;" Bon Jovi's "Bad Medicine;" and Slaughter's "Up All Night,"


	27. Chapter 27

Ownership: Nothing but the story

A/N: Sorry for the major delay, lots happened over the holiday. I've got this huge, huge chapter that I'm still like, fleshing out, and it's taking forever, so I'm cutting just this intro off and posting it now so I won't annoy you guys further. I should be able to get the rest done soon - this is like a teaser. The problem is that, even though it's incredibly long, I don't want to cut the majority of Rosalie's story off, it will just screw up the flow… Anyway, thank you so much for all of the awesome reviews and personal messages – it's really great to hear from all of you, and I'm so proud of my reviews, to which I owe all of you a _monster_ debt of gratitude… PS – Usual errors, plus I've noticed that some of my words get omitted when the chapters are uploaded from Microsoft word to the fanfiction site, and I can't figure out why, so I apologize for the times it gets a little choppy… Anyone know why this happens, by the way?

###

"_Ugh would you just take the test Rose, God you are such a pain in the ass…" _Bella smacked Rosalie in the arm and waved Emmett's brand new iPad in her face as the handsome boy chuckled nearby. All three were bundled up in under blankets outside in the yard on a Friday night.

Rosalie scowled at Bella.

"_Yeah ROSE, you're SUCH a pain in the ass," _Emmett snickered as he parroted Bella's words and leaned over from his spot next to the chaise the two girls shared to blow smoke on his sister. Rosalie coughed dramatically and waved off both the smoke and the persistent arms of the brunette that tried to force the fancy new gadget upon her.

"_Sorry Rosalie, I'd defend your honor but seeing as you continue to refuse to take one tiny, itty bitty little test for me-" _ Bella continued to tease her and wave the iPad in her face.

"_No, I'm not taking the test, no, no, no!" _Rosalie crossed her leanly muscled arms defiantly and scowled again. She whipped her head to the right and shot a glare at her brother. _"And you, you are in BIG trouble…" _Emmett returned her glare with another chuckle.

"_You know Rosalie, you look much prettier when you smile, wouldn't you agree, Emmett?" _ Bella made a grab at Rosalie's nose, but the agile blonde caught her hand and bit it playfully. Emmett said nothing but continued to laugh.

"_No way Bella, scowling is really in this season, it's like THE look at Vogue right now, trust me, I'm a MODEL, as you like to remind me EVERY SINGLE DAY…" _Rosalie bit at Bella's hand again and growled through her teeth.

"_Ow, I can't see, your teeth are too white, they've blinded me, my retinas have burned out, oh the pain-" _ Bella held the back of her hand up to her eyes and squinted as she writhed in feigned agony. _"But wait Rosalie, how would you know that scowling is 'in', I thought you only had three looks, Blue Steel, Le Tigre, and –"_

Rosalie groaned as she cut her off: _"Yeah, Yeah, and Ferrari and my new look, Magnum… Using Zoolander jokes on a model, how very clever and original…" _ The gorgeous blonde rolled her eyes yet again, but when she noticed that Bella began to pout and look legitimately miffed, Rosalie swung her head away and then whipped it back, perfect cheeks sucked in dramatically and a dark smolder fixed on her girlfriend.

Bella giggled in spite of herself.

"_Please tell me you're at least an ambi-turner…" _ Bella parried back through giggles, and Emmett laughed heartily from his spot in the chair next to them.

"_Jesus Bella, you're just not scared of her at all, are you?" _He questioned between chuckles.

"_Why should she be scared of me?" _Rosalie interrupted innocently before Bella could respond and she reached out and pulled Bella into her arms, cooing and purring as she nuzzled the brunette and pressed kisses to her cheeks.

"_Yeah Emmett, why should I be scared of Rosie here, didn't you know she's a total pussy when it comes to me?" _ Bella goaded Rosalie as she pulled back and turned to smile smugly at her.

Emmett, of course, burst out into guffaws. _"Rosie? ROSIE? Oh man, Rosalie, there are no words…"_

"_Bell-a" _Rosalie whined for probably only the third or fourth time in her entire life, faking a pout of her own as she continued in a pained voice: _"You're ruining my reputation, I thought that was our little secret…"_

"_Awww, and it was, my highborn, sublime, gentle little puppy, that is, until you refused to take the test…" _Bella sat back even farther on the chaise, facing Rosalie with her arms crossed tightly around Emmett's iPad and an impish grin teasing the corners of her full, rosy lips.

"_Highborn? Sublime? Little puppy? Who says that?" _Rosalie snarked unbelievingly as her brother continued to howl in the background. _"Oh shut it Emmett before I tell her about you and Pet Cemetery-"_

"_What about Pet Cemetery?" _Bella, ever curious, whipped her head to her left to stare at Emmett inquisitively.

"_Nothing I'm not afraid to tell you myself Bella, I pooped my pants during that movie when I was eight because I was so scared," _Emmett grinned victoriously at his sister. _"See Rosalie, I'm better at this than you think…"_

"_Oh poor Emmett, that movie WAS scary, now help me out here buddy – come on Rose, please, please, please?" _Bella begged, sitting Indian-style in front of the lithe blonde model as Rosalie leaned back against the lounge, arms still crossed and eyes glaring. _"Why won't you take the test, Emmett and I both have, why won't you just play along?"_

"_Because we're both Gryffindors and Rosalie's always sorted into Slytherin…" _Emmett rolled his eyes and interjected matter-of-factly.

Bella looked at Rosalie aghast.

"_A Slytherin? You?" _She teased Rosalie sarcastically as she feigned shock.

"_Very funny. Just because I'm not all brave and noble like you two fools, it doesn't mean I'm a bad person. They never ask 'if someone was drowning, would you save them' or 'do you cut up the plastic on a six-pack so the sea turtles don't get stuck', no, it's always just 'would you cheat on a test' or 'do you hold grudges' or 'do you like the dark arts' or whatever…" _

Rosalie was really only refusing to take the test on Emmett's new iPad because she was in the mood to torture Bella a bit, and ever since Bella had _finally_ finished the seventh book, the smaller girl had been pleading with her to take it non-stop.

She wanted Rosalie to take it _so badly..._

"_It's not like Gryffindors are so great," _Rosalie continued with a smirk,_ "and whatever, Slytherins are cunning and sexy. I have no desire to exterminate minorities, okay? I just enjoy getting revenge and I might be a little bit sneaky on occasion…" _

Rosalie casually ran elegant fingers through her icy blond hair as she sipped from a glass of cold whiskey. Her pale skin glowed in the soft shimmer of the white Christmas lights they'd strung along the trellis borders, and her green eyes (currently a blend of lime and aqua – but the shades changed frequently and peculiarly) sparkled brilliantly, always looking their brightest and most unnaturally colored in the winter months against the backdrop of Rosalie's porcelain complexion and shiny pale locks. Winter was always the time she was told she looked her most beautiful – "haunting" was a term frequently used, but Rosalie herself much preferred a golden tan and sun-bleached summer tresses to her current pallor and perfectly highlighted white-blonde hair.

But most people seemed to really like the striking contrast of her features against her glowing green eyes during the colder months, and this was always this time of year when she was the most frequently requested for modeling jobs.

"_You do kind of have a Malfoy look going on right now, Rose…" _ Bella shifted and turned away from Rosalie as she scooted back into her, coming to rest in a comfortable spot sitting between Rosalie's gazelle-like legs. She pulled the blanket up over them and held the screen so that Rosalie was forced to watch, tapping furiously until she reached the website she was looking for. _"I don't know if you'd really be a Slytherin if you took this one, it's actually a personality test and much more realistic." _

Rosalie knew the test Bella was referring to, and she rolled her eyes in defeat as she brought an arm around Bella's waist and pulled her up so that she could lean in and kiss behind the smaller girl's delicate, slightly rosy-from-the-cold ear. It really wasn't that chilly out, but Bella, being a Floridian, had lately seemed to shiver whenever the mercury dropped below 55.

"_Don't bother Bella, I made her take that one too, she still ends up in Slytherin…" _ Emmett turned to face his sister, who pulled her lips from their current spot in Bella's soft hair and peered over at the boy with a somewhat puzzled expression. She wasn't sure why Emmett was suddenly being so forthcoming and open about her- she'd always been able to count on him to respect and protect her need for privacy more than anyone else in her life. Although being the only other person that Bella was open about their relationship with, Emmett _had_ grown closer and much more comfortable around Bella, but his behavior tonight was still a bit out of character.

"_Although Rosalie," _Emmett continued, speaking directly and confidently to his sister,_ "if you switched out 'people' for 'animals' in every question on the test, I guarantee you'd be an honorable, brave, incredibly popular, gorgeous Gryffindor like me and Bella!"_

Rosalie laughed. _"Oh thank you, one can only hope…"_

Whatever was going on with her brother, it wasn't worth getting upset about…

Bella twisted her neck so she could look up at the blonde. _"You like animals?" _

Emmett snorted. Rosalie grimaced internally, finding his little non-verbal conversation interrupters to be incredibly annoying. _"I'll take your brother's pig noise as a 'yes' then?" _Bella sighed, and the tone in her next words sounded legitimately frustrated: _"Just one more thing I don't know about Rosalie Hale, what a shocker…"_

"_Bella, you know tons about me!" _Rosalie insisted enthusiastically as she playfully began to pepper kisses all over Bella's face until she elicited a giggle, ignoring her brother's annoyed protests over their PDAs as she cajoled and teased the gorgeous girl into a smile.

"_Oh yeah, like what?" _Bella's retort was sassy as she grabbed Rosalie's hands that were wrapped around her waist from behind and squeezed them tightly.

"_Well…" _Rosalie's tone was low and seductive as she began: _ "You know a lot, let me think where to start… You know that I think you're the most incredible girl I've ever met, you know that I think you're unbelievably beautiful, and clever, and bright, and you know that I want to be with you more than anything else in the world…" _

Emmett could have heard if he'd focused, but his attention was now fixed on the iPad he'd reclaimed, so Rosalie didn't have to worry about his presence making Bella uncomfortable. She was quite sure that Emmett would have made well more than just one snarky comment if he had heard his sister speaking to Bella with such affection and devotion.

Not that Rosalie cared, but she did care about Bella…

"_Let's think Bella, um you know that it's really mean to rub my thigh under the blanket like you're doing right now because it makes me completely crazy whenever you touch me, and if you didn't know, let me tell you now that you look really, really good in my chunky black angora turtleneck, even though it's way too big on you, because I think it looks fucking sexy with the neck all loose and scrunched up like it is right now…"_

"_Keep going," _Bella purred quietly in return as she continued to stroke Rosalie's thigh, the blonde's lean muscles clad only in thin black leggings and very sensitive to her touch. Bella twisted her neck so that her breath puffed hot on Rosalie's cheek, and she brought her lips to rest against the smooth skin.

"_You know that I love that you like wearing my clothes because you like having a part of me touching you, and you know that I wear my little low red chucks that you bought me all the time now because they came from you… You know that I think kissing you is probably the most incredible feeling in the entire world, second only to how it feels when you tell me you love me, and possibly also just behind how it feels when you um, you know, do stuff to me…" _

Bella groaned as she twisted and pressed back tightly into the blonde's toned body.

"_Keep going," _she whispered again. Emmett was still fiddling with his new gadget, completely oblivious to what was going down on the chaise only a foot and a half away from where he sat.

"_Um, you know how much I love that you know all of those crazy vocabulary words, because you know that I double-majored in English Lit and Psychology in college, and you know that I minored in Chemistry and Biochemistry, so you know that I'm a huge nerd-"_

"_You're not a nerd," _Bella breathed.

"_Yes I am, and you're the popular-girl Marketing major, but I like that you minored in Anthropology, that's fucking sexy…" _Rosalie breathed back at the captivating brunette, hissing slightly as Bella's hand dropped behind her back and down between the blonde's legs.

Bella groaned quietly and smirked as she pressed the hand against Rosalie's center.

"_Keep talking," _she commanded again as she began to very, very subtly rock back into the blonde, her movements imperceptible to anyone but Rosalie, who very much felt the adrenaline Bella had just sent racing through her body.

"_Um, you know that I began fantasizing about being with you practically the night you came over and we started talking, even though I didn't want to admit it to myself, and you know that I'd be content to listen to you talk about anything for hours, but you know that I could also fuck you for hours as well and be pretty happy with that too-" _

Bella groaned again, a little bit louder, and Rosalie felt her shudder.

Rosalie's breaths came more frequently as the backs of Bella's fingers pushed into her center. _"You know that I really don't want you to dislocate your shoulder touching me the way you are right now, but you also know that when you touch me there it's getting harder and harder for me to resist you, because I just don't want to anymore…_

"_Then don't…" _Bella started to flex her fingers so that the knuckle on her middle finger rubbed right against Rosalie's clit, and the blonde hissed again, involuntarily squeezing Bella even tighter.

"_Do you know that you're the only person that's ever really made me feel good like the way you do? I mean, not standard good, like really, really, I-can't-move-and-all-I –see –is-white-I-just-came-so-hard good? Do you know you're the only person that's ever been able to do that to me?" _

Bella shook her head 'no' and let out a hiss of her own as Rosalie's fingers found their way to her center and she began to rub through the smaller girl's skinny dark denim jeans.

"_Do you know why you're the only person that's even been able to do that to me? I'll give you a hint, it's not just because I, um, you know, I love – shit, um it's not just because of that, there's another reason…"_

"_What else is it then?" _Bella whispered breathily, shuddering at Rosalie's words even though the blonde wasn't able to finish them. Rosalie loved that Bella didn't need to hear all of it right away – she got the gist of what Rosalie was trying to say, and even Rosalie's half words seemed to make the gorgeous girl incredibly happy.

"_It's also because you are better in bed than anyone I've ever been with. You're not just the best sex I've ever had because I care so much about you, you're also the best sex I've ever had because you're technically fucking incredible. You have crazy skills, especially with the um, the purple thing we like, I mean oh my God, sex with you is fucking the best thing on Earth. I have to try so hard to keep the memories of our, um, our nights out of my head during the day sometimes, because I get so wet when I think about it that it's led to some potentially very embarrassing situations…" _Rosalie nuzzled her nose into the soft spot behind Bella's ear as she purred, no longer afraid of the words that always seemed to spill out of her around the beautiful girl. They were just words, right?

"_Like when?" _ Bella husked her question and tried to muffle a moan as Rosalie began to massage her clit with more pressure. _"Rose," _she whispered. _"That feels good, mmm…"_

"_Good…" _ Rosalie whispered back.

"_Rose, like when?" _ Bella reiterated in another moan.

"_Like when I'm sitting at a board meeting for the Bailey House last week trying to run numbers with our finance trustee, but all I can think about is when you had me up against the wall in Jasper's room that night, and so I'm wearing this thin little grey wool sheath dress and I have to literally bolt outside and spend ten minutes getting air because my thong is um, totally soaked and I could feel it starting to hit my dress. And even then, standing on the street in the cold, all I could think about was the way your hands felt on my body, and the way your tongue felt and your fingers, and shit the way your abs flexed when I rode you, and the way you moved into me, I mean, oh my God, thinking about you and me like that is um, like Chinese water torture…" _

Rosalie whimpered as Bella continued to knead her knuckle into the captivated blonde's clit, and she suddenly regretted having said so much, but only because now she was _really_ wet and wound up and her brother was sitting literally right next to them.

"_No one makes you wet like I do, right?" _Bella growled, andRosalie whimpered again.

Possessive Bella was the ultimate turn-on for her.

"_No one, Bella, no one. See, you DO know things about me…" _

Rosalie brought her knees up on either side of Bella to make a tent out of the blanket, and she slowly unzipped Bella's jeans from underneath it and dipped her fingers behind the waistband of the slender brunette's underwear.

Bella hissed and squirmed, then groaned rather noisily.

"_Shhh… shhh… let's see how quiet you can be…" _Rosalie purred temptingly as she began to run her fingers through Bella's soft folds.

"_Ugh, I can't be quiet, you know that!" _Bella whisper-yelled.

Rosalie struggled to grab her iPhone out of her coat pocket, and she spoke her next words at a normal volume as she announced to her brother:

"_We're going to listen to your Essential Guitar Wails mix, Bella's never heard it." _

She fiddled to open the iPod app with her left hand and plug it into the sound dock that rested on the other chaise while her right hand continued to stroke Bella underneath her panties.

Rosalie could feel short nails digging into her thighs as Bella struggled to keep silent and still.

"_You've never heard Essential Guitar Wails, oh man Bella, that's one of my best mixes, and you know your girlfriend here can play every single one of them, so make a list and force her to bring her guitar over soon so we can get her to entertain us, go it?" _Emmett grinned enthusiastically at the struggling, extremely wet brunette briefly before returning his attention to the screen of the iPad.

Rosalie turned the volume up on the dock, and _"_Hot For Teacher"began blasting into the yard, effectively drowning out Bella's noises.

"_Just don't move too much, okay?" _Rosalie purred into her ear as she brought her left hand underneath the blanket as well and pulled Bella's tight jeans down slightly. The brunette moaned deliciously into her ear as Rosalie maneuvered her so that Bella's head could rest on her left shoulder, facing away from Emmett now.

She began to hum contentedly as she dragged fingers deeper into the heated folds and felt Bella's body respond on every level.

It was one of the many things Rosalie loved about Bella – not only did she climax so easily and frequently, but also when Rosalie touched her, she responded like a finely tuned instrument, as cliché as Rosalie knew that sounded. Bella was so sensitive to everything Rosalie did, and she got so much pleasure out of the taller blonde, that it was impossible not to want to touch her at every opportunity she was given. The way Bella reacted to her; her moans, and twitches, and heavy breaths; her frantic movements and pants; the way she talked dirty and screamed her name, and the way she climaxed over and over – Bella made Rosalie feel like some sort of god. Rosalie had always been known and praised for her sexual abilities, and she was very confident going into their relationship, but Bella had still managed to make her feel like she was the most arousing, most incredibly skilled lover on the planet.

"_Oh fuck Rosalie, you're so fucking evil, God you get me so wet when you talk to me like that, can you feel how bad I got just then?" _Bella leaned back so that she could whisper close to Rosalie's ear, and Rosalie felt a growl form in her throat as the girl's nails raked up her thighs. She shivered, but not from the cold.

"_Will you keep talking to me, it's so fucking sexy Rose, I love your voice, keep talking to me, tell me what I feel like…"_

Bella's breath caught as a lone finger teased her entrance.

"_You feel incredible," _Rosalie growled in return, keeping one eye trained on her brother, who was now absorbed in some sort of racing game with his headphones plugged in to block out the music from the dock's speakers. His chair was perfectly positioned so that he faced the apartment instead of the chaise, and he was too focused on his game to register any of the movement under the blanket in his periphery.

"_But I always tell you about how you feel, did you know that you also always smell like grapefruits, actually more like just general citrus, because you're sweeter than grapefruit, but crisp and fresh and I swear I can smell verbena on you, and it's the most incredible scent in the world, I don't think it's just your shampoo because I taste it on your skin everywhere I kiss you... I wish I was kissing you everywhere right now…" _Rosalie inhaled deeply, almost to make sure Bella's subtle, fresh scent was real, and indeed it was.

"_Where would you kiss me right now if you could?" _

Bella wasn't fucking around tonight; she wanted Rosalie to _talk._

"_I want you to tell me because it will make me come faster, but Rosalie a part of me doesn't want to come fast because God having your fingers on me feels so good."_

"_I'm watching Emmett, Bella, he isn't paying attention. We don't have to rush. But I'll make you come when I'm good and ready to…" _Rosalie's purr was seductive and somewhat raspy. Bella shivered, but managed to joke:

"_So bossy Rosalie, always so bossy."_

Rosalie tossed her head back with laughter. _"You're one to talk, I never thought quiet, shy Bella Swan would end up being such a stubborn, feisty little thing!" _She dipped her middle finger shallowly into Bella's entrance, teasing her hole and causing Bella to writhe wildly.

"_Mmmm, oh fuck, Rosalie you always act like I'm this tiny little thing when you're only what, 5'9, mmmm-" _Rosalie dipped her finger in deeper this time, pressing into the tight hole, made even tighter by the extremely skinny jeans that kept Bella's legs from spreading very far, as her left hand ran up Bella's thigh and began to trace small circles around her clit. _"-mmm, like I was saying, oh fuck, um, you're not that much bigger than me, just because you're all freakishly strong and you wear four inch heels, how come I have to be the little one?"_

"_You don't want to be the little one?" _Rosalie purred, curling her slender finger and pushing farther inside of her as the blonde's other hand teased Bella's sensitive nub.

"_No, I do, but I like to be the top sometimes too…"_

Rosalie threw her head back in laughter _again: _

"_Oh my goodness I wasn't expecting you to say that, you like to be the top? Someone knows their girl-girl sex terms all of a sudden, huh?" _She squeezed Bella's sides with her upper arms and pressed a kiss to her cheek as she chuckled, and began to rub her thumb directly over Bella's clit, dropping it lower to bring up her wetness and then rolling the bud, over and over.

"_FUCK," _Bella shouted and Rosalie's head whipped over to see if her brother had heard.

He was still absorbed by the game. The music had switched over to "Seventeen," and the heavy guitar riffs had successfully covered Bella's voice.

"_Bella," _Rosalie giggled as she began to stroke her center more rhythmically. Her thumb massaged the smaller girl's hard nub at a slightly faster pace. _"That's not being quiet."_

"_Mmmm, mmmm, Rosalie keep talking to me, do you like it when I top you, do you?" _Bella tried to growl her question out between moans, but it came out as more of a whimper.

"_Yes," _Rosalie breathed. _"I don't like when you call it that but I like when you do it."_

"_And you didn't like it before me, right?" _ Bella was breathing hard as Rosalie rubbed her and thrust in as deeply as she could.

"_Only you make it feel good, Bella, only you." _Rosalie could feel Bella starting to pulse slightly, and every muscle in the smaller girl's body had already gone rigid.

She rubbed faster.

"_Shit Rosalie, I want you inside of me, that's not deep enough, I need more, fuck I want to feel you inside every inch of me, FUCK, mmm…" _

The willowy blonde moaned audibly at Bella's words.

"_Shhh Bella don't talk like that, you're getting me all wound up and one of us needs to pay attention…" _Rosalie turned and nipped lightly at her lip as she scolded her beautiful girlfriend.

"_No, FUCK paying attention, I need you to fuck me, oh fuck, I need more, I need more…"_

"_Pull your left knee up," _Rosalie commanded as she stilled their movements. Bella did as she was told, and Rosalie quickly reached down under the cover of the massive blanket and undid the trembling girl's shoe. Bella helped wriggle out of the left leg of her jeans and panties as Rosalie kept a watchful eye on her preoccupied, tuned-out brother.

"_Oh fuck yes," _Bella groaned in anticipation as Rosalie dropped her own knee and kept Bella's bent as she spread her wide and moved the smaller girl's leg to rest outside of her own. She then subtly pressed Bella's knee down as she raised hers again, tilting Bella to the right slightly.

"_Fuck Rose…" _

Bella was rubbing herself while Rosalie moved her; the blonde couldn't believe how reckless Bella got when she was turned on.

Rosalie wrapped her left arm tightly around her waist to keep her sitting upright, and began to trail her right hand down Bella's chest, teasing her as she chuckled.

"_Rose don't fucking tease me, what's so funny?" _

Bella was could be very ornery when she wanted to get off.

"_I've got you in a position straight out of a porn and I'm about to fuck you under a blanket in our backyard with Winger and now Quiet Riot playing and my brother sitting not two feet away and you're like this sex-crazed lunatic, it's pretty funny…" _Rosalie's voice was amused but still low and seductive as she tried to cease her own soft laughter.

"_Well it's your fucking fault ROSE," _Bella groaned and squirmed as she bit her lip to muffle her heavy breathing_. "You're the one that's so good at this, I swear to God, you better touch me right now or I'll start to moan your name so loud that your brother will hear EVERYTHING, I'm not kidd-"_

"_Shhh," _Rosalie chuckled. _"Don't rush me, I need to take my time, I want to feel you-" _she ran the fingers of her left hand down the exposed flesh of Bella's inner thigh while her right ghosted over her center and grasped her at the apex of her leg and hip, kneading the flesh as she spread Bella even wider.

She did not touch her core.

"_You're so beautiful, my Bella, so beautiful. Can you feel how open you are now? Can you feel the cold air coming through the blanket?" _Rosalie husked her last words dangerously.

She wasn't laughing anymore.

"_Yes," _Bella whispered back. _"But please just-"_

"_No, I want you to tell me what you want me to do to you." _Rosalie purred her order with an authority that was seductively powerful.

Bella gulped.

"_I want you to um, to touch me," _Bella gulped again.

"_Where?" _Rosalie quested in a provocative whisper.

"_There, um, you know…" _Rosalie brought the middle finger of her right hand to the edge of Bella's opening and pressed in so that the tip was lost inside of her.

"_Here?"_

"_Yes, there," _Bella hissed.

"_Tell me how you want it, do you want me to be slow and gentle like this-" _Rosalie curled her wrist and pushed the one finger slowly inside of her, and pulled out just as slowly, continuing the motion for a few thrusts as she rubbed the palm of her left hand across Bella's clit in time. Bella's walls immediately clenched around Rosalie, and she felt Bella twitch slightly.

Bella hadn't lost her momentum; she was still _very _close.

"_Or do you want me to go deep and hard? Which do you want, Bella?" _Rosalie curled her tongue and accentuated the 'a' as she purred her name.

"_Deep and hard, I want you to fuck me deep and hard…" _Bella panted. _"And I want you to spread me open with your other hand while you fuck me and rub my clit with your palm. I want to feel your gorgeous hands all over me…"_

With those words, Rosalie's composure went down the drain. She hadn't expected Bella to suddenly get the hang of her questioning and counter like that, and she shook with her own arousal.

A noise snapped Rosalie back into focus, and she stilled their movements immediately and pretended to headbang to the music as Emmett got up and quickly glanced over at them.

"_Rosalie, I gotta run to Brenner's to see his dealer, I'll be back in like, ten minutes, do you guys want anything?" _Emmett was still playing with the touch screen, and barely looked up again as he spoke.

"_Nope, I'm good, Bella?" _Rosalie questioned her playfully.

"_No," _Bella literally squeaked.

"_Cool, see you in ten…" _Emmett loped over to the door.

###

Rosalie held Bella perfectly still as she watched Emmett walk into the apartment. Bella started to stir and speak, but she shushed her. Emmett hadn't closed the back door, and the blonde was listening intently for the tell-tale slam of their heavy front door to indicate that he'd left. As soon as she heard the slam, Rosalie reached to her right for the string of lights that dangled over the grill and yanked one of the bulbs out.

Bella gasped as the entire backyard went dark.

"_You're like the MacGyver of sex or something," _she whispered.

"_Oh fuck Bella, you're killing me, here, quickly move -" _Rosalie flipped her over so that the extremely flushed girl was now facing her and straddling her lap, and Rosalie immediately knocked the back of the chaise lower by a notch.

"_Rose, hurry, please, I can't stand it," _Bella breathed as she bit her lip and panted, glowering at Rosalie with the most aroused, beautifully darkened eyes Rosalie was sure she had ever seen.

She leaned back, the lounge now at about a 60 degree angle, and tried to pull Bella down, but Bella moaned:

"_No, stay sitting up, I want to ride your fingers while I fuck you with my tongue."_

She reached out and undid the belt of Rosalie's cashmere trench, sliding a hand up her shirt. Rosalie gasped as Bella began to knead her breast, and she quickly brought her own hand back to the smaller girl's center.

Bella watched her hand trail down, and she looked up at Rosalie, surprising the blonde with a devilish smile as she panted _"Oh fuck yeah."_

"_You're happy?" _Rosalie teased as she pulled the small of Bella's back into her and kissed her nose.

"_Yeah," _Bella grinned, and then inhaled sharply as Rosalie brought her down onto her two longest fingers, penetrating her narrow hole as she began to guide her hips.

She reveled in the expressions on Bella's face as pleasure washed over her and she began to moan and bounce. Rosalie went right for the jugular, immediately pushing in deep and curling one of her fingers slightly.

"_Oh fuck yes, oh fuck, don't make me come yet, I want to keep going, I've spent all day thinking about this…"_

Rosalie was about to kiss her when she saw the light go on in Alice's room.

"_Oh shit," _she hissed.

"_What?" _Bella panted as she bobbed.

"_Alice is home, she doesn't come outside right away, does she?" _

Rosalie was nervous. She did _not_ want to have to stop.

"_We have at least five minutes…" _Bella looked even more nervous than Rosalie as she awaited the blonde's response.

"_Well, fuck we better get moving then!" _Bella managed to giggle and grin at her words in between breathy moans before grabbing Rosalie's face and pressing their lips together firmly. Within seconds, Bella had slipped her tongue into Rosalie's mouth, and the taller blonde sighed as their connection spread adrenaline through every inch of her lean body.

She brought her other hand down, and painted Bella's clit with juices from her now practically dripping center so that she could work her nub in furious rhythm. Bella tried to keep kissing Rosalie, but was quickly rendered unable to do anything but moan and half talk into Rosalie's mouth as she rode her long fingers.

"_Oh Rose, Rosalie, Rose, Rose, oh fuck, Rose, Rosie, Rose, fuck yes, oh God…"_

The smaller girl couldn't help herself, she seemed to always need to talk and say her name, and Rosalie _loved_ it.

"_Oh God Rose, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," _she almost sounded like she was crying as she whimpered, her breath panting and interrupting her words every time she dropped down onto Rosalie's endless digits. _"Oh God Rose, how are your fingers so long, oh God, I feel you everywhere-" _Rosalie was twisting and spreading her fingers inside the girl as she bounced up and down. _"Oh FUCK, Rose, Rose, Rose…" _

Rosalie felt Bella's clit twitching and worked it relentlessly as the panting girl's walls went into full spasm around her. _"How does it feel, mmm, oh FUCK, mmm, how does it feel Rose?" _

Rosalie knew exactly what Bella wanted to hear. Recently she'd made it known that she loved to hear the blonde say the word, and Rosalie was more than happy to oblige her:

"_Oh my God Bella, so tight, oh fuck, so tight, your pussy is so tight, it's so fucking tight, your pussy is so fucking tight Bella, and-" _

Bella's scream caught her off-guard – she thought the writhing brunette still needed a few more thrusts, but as her hand was now covered with cum and Rosalie felt Bella twitch and jerk erratically as she collapsed on top of the blonde, heaving for breath, Rosalie was pretty sure she was finished.

She began to move the girl immediately.

"_What, no, I need to rest, I need you to stroke me and stuff while I come down and-"_

"_No Bella, we need to put your jeans back on before Emmett comes back, remember?" _Rosalie maneuvered a very shaky leg back into the tight denim and helped Bella stand up while she fastened them for her. She fetched the lone sneaker off the ground and pulled Bella into her from behind again so she could lace it up.

Bella just lay collapsed into her, head lolling on her shoulder as she panted.

"_Rosalie, do you mind if your brother walks in on us making out?" _Bella breathed meekly. _"Or kissing at least, I just need to lie on top of you and have you stroke my hair and stuff, that was really intense…"_

"_You don't care?" _Rosalie asked curiously. Again, Bella had surprised her.

The smaller girl shook her head.

"_Okay that's awesome, yes, please come lay on top of me while I pet you, little Thumper, I would like nothing more." _

Bella smiled nervously as she reached out for Rosalie. _"Don't be nervous Bella, why are you nervous?"_

"_I um, I just realize that I ask a lot of you sometimes, and uh, I'm not very good at um, I just – I need a lot of reassurance and I'm sorry I'm so annoying…" _She pulled at her puffy lower lip anxiously with perfectly white front teeth.

"_Come here," _Rosalie looked at her seriously, her eyes soft and tender, as she pulled Bella into her, laying back on the chaise and pressing kisses to her forehead before scooting down so that they were level with each other and connecting their lips gently.

She reached out and tucked a stray wisp of chestnut behind the beautiful girl's ear. Bella really was so, so beautiful. Her full lips, and her incredible, slightly lidded eyes; those rosy cheeks and her amazing smiles – she was extraordinary.

"_You're so beautiful," _Rosalie whispered between kisses. _"I know I say it all the time, but it's because there are just these moments where I'm so overwhelmed by your beauty that I can't help it. You're just like aesthetically perfect, and I feel like 'gorgeous' is too pedestrian for you, because your beauty is rarer than that, but it's also like timeless, and it's so, I mean, you're perfect, Bella. You give me goosebumps when I look at you sometimes. That's how beautiful you are." _

Rosalie searched those deep brown irises with her own as she spoke; continuing to lightly stroke Bella's disheveled long hair as she attempted to express what she felt with words.

"_Um, wow, that's uh," _Bella looked down for a second tentatively. _"No one had ever said that to me before. It um, it feels really good. Especially coming from you. Do you think it's weird that we kind of like, fell in love? I mean, my whole world is different now, Rose. And I'm like actually WITH you. It's kind of crazy. I just um, it's weird looking at someone that you know you can't live without. I've never felt that way before." _

Rosalie was touched by Bella's candid words. She felt a familiar swelling in her chest.

"_Yeah it is weird looking at someone you can't live without, it's weird looking at you sometimes. The whole thing is weird. But life, life is incredibly strange, Bella. In the moments when I'm not freaking out about having no control over it, in those moments I actually kind of like the idea that now everything is different. I like that my life isn't so pre-determined anymore. I'm just kind of surprised that you even exist. You just like, fit with me or something." _

Not surprisingly, Rosalie looked away after she spoke. But even still, she was getting much better at talking about her feelings without allowing the waves of irrational fear to overwhelm her. Actually those waves had recently diminished to the degree that they were now usually more like occasional little trickles of manageable panic.

But she wasn't entirely comfortable with this new, vulnerable, lets-talk-about-feelings Rosalie, and she doubted if she'd ever be.

"_It's okay, you don't have to gaze at me intently after you say stuff, I totally get it. But I know what you mean about us fitting. It's weird, I feel like you're almost too perfect for me…" _Bella tried to be soothing and understanding, but her words had suddenly increased Rosalie's fear trickle to a pretty solid stream.

"_Oh trust me, there are still PLENTY of ways for me to disappoint you, just you wait…" _

Rosalie sat up and gathered her coat around her, re-tying the waist. She saw movement inside and waved excitedly as Emmett walked out into the yard. Bella still didn't really know her, and it was Rosalie's own fault, but she'd just been reminded of her shortcomings and she welcomed the distraction her brother would hopefully bring.

She reached back and pulled Bella into a hug, not wanting to upset her with her sudden sarcastic comment. Bella slipped her hand inside Rosalie's coat and rubbed her taut stomach as she held the blonde close.

###

"_Okay, hands off girls, the man of the house has returned!" _Emmett marched triumphantly over to the girls, a broad grin plastered to his face as he waved a bag of mushrooms in front of them.

"_Yuck Em, mushrooms always make me barf, what on earth are you doing with that many?" _Rosalie chided her baby brother.

"_Yeah, well of course I barf too, but then the toilet water gets all swirly and bam, I'm tripping my balls off, don't you-" _He paused and began to scrutinize Bella.

"_Bella, why are you so flushed? I'm sure you guys were making out but no one glows like that unless they've just been-" _

He whipped his head over to Rosalie, who was expressionless.

But Bella looked down and blushed furiously. Emmett's eyes widened. She only made it worse by hiding her face in Rosalie's shoulder.

"_Rosalie!" _Emmett gasped dramatically. _"In our very own backyard?" _

Rosalie patted Bella's hair and shrugged.

"_I don't know what you're talking about…" _She smiled politely.

"_You stud, you fucked her in the backyard, and clearly pretty good because look at her-"_

"_EMMETT! ENOUGH!" _Rosalie's voice was suddenly furious. _"Jesus Christ, where is your filter, buddy?" _She scolded Emmett without a trace of playfulness or sarcasm in her voice, and Emmett knew it.

"_Sorry, sorry, I did some coke, verbal barfing, sorry Bella, sorry…" _He held his hands up contritely. _"Oh fuck, we're all out of drinks, I'll just go-"_

"_No," _Bella shot up. _"I'll get them, bourbon, right?" _

Before either sibling could respond, she raced off into their apartment, blushing like she had caught fire.

"_I'm an idiot," _Emmett huffed as he sat down.

"_No you're just a natural dickhead, don't pull that fake contrition act with me, it may work on Bella, but I know exactly what you're up to…" _Rosalie smirked, no longer needing to worry about Bella overhearing.

Emmett immediately began to crack up. _"She bought it, though, right? I mean, Jesus Rosalie, you fucked her in the backyard? In ten minutes? You guys are crazy!"_

Rosalie just rolled her eyes.

"_Oh come on, at least give me a high five, you old dog you…" _Rosalie lifted her hand reluctantly and Emmett slapped it and then held on, shaking it as he announced with much enthusiasm: _"Hell yeah you fucked her in the backyard, my sister is a fucking stud, she's a Hale through and through!"_

The elegant blonde shook her head and chuckled.

"_You better lock that shit down, Rosalie, Bella is fucking gorgeous and she's perfect for you, you need to get your act together. We call girls like that 'Haleys' because they only come around once every 76 years…" _

Emmett crossed his arms dramatically like a rapper after a battle.

"_Uh that's so lame, 'Haleys,' I mean really Em?" _Rosalie rubbed the bridge of her nose in semi-feigned exasperation._ "That's the dorkiest thing I've ever heard, God I need a fucking drink…"_

_###_

"_Seriously though, I don't know what you're waiting for…" _Emmett sighed as he relaxed back in the Adirondack chair and fixed a serious gaze upon his sister. Rosalie raised an eyebrow questioningly, and Emmett kicked her leg gently as he rested his huge feet on the side of the chaise she lay in.

"_Just take her to the loft already." _

Rosalie clenched her teeth and sat straight up. Her previously relaxed, playful expression had morphed into ice. She wasn't angry with her brother; he was indeed right, on so many levels. But she did NOT want to do what he was suggesting.

"_I am aware that it's absolutely ridiculous that I don't want her to know about all of that, Emmett," _Rosalie reached out and took Emmett's cigarette out of the boy's hand and pulled hard. _"But I'm just not sure how she'll react."_

"_Well Rosalie, I can tell you EXACTLY how she'll react if you withhold all that shit much longer…" _

Rosalie exhaled deeply, releasing a long, slender plume of smoke into the frosty late November night as she rolled her eyes in frustration.

"_It's not even a big deal," _Emmett continued,_ "it's just 'hey Bella, I own a loft downtown, I have a few hobbies, I'm really even richer than you thought, and during the day I workout like a psycho, deal with shit for the one billion charities and foundations I'm involved with, sometimes model, mentor some girls, engage in said aforementioned hobbies, and manage my investments.' Like, what's the problem, Rosalie? Just get it over with." _ Emmett shrugged his muscled shoulders and looked pointedly at the tense blonde.

"_You're right, those things aren't that big a deal, the problem, Em, is that Bella will want more than that. She may act like she's just annoyed because I'm vague about what I do during the day, but the subtext is that she really actually wants to know WHO I am. Why I'm so distant and bitchy, what my childhood was like, our parents, et cetera. I can't do that." _

Rosalie stared down at Emmett, her expression appearing cold and emotionless to an outsider, but her brother could read the subtle vulnerability and earnest concern contained within it. Rosalie wasn't trying to conceal her feelings from him, but after years spent perfecting a mask of icy indifference, it just appeared naturally on her. Those who knew her well and loved her were nonplussed by it, and took no offense.

To Emmett, that was just the way Rosalie was.

Except around Bella; when the beautiful girl was with her, Rosalie's face came alive, and was entirely full of expression and emotion.

Emmett had teased her frequently in the past week about being whipped, and Rosalie perceived the subtext of his playful ribbing as easily as she had Bella's annoying grumblings about never saying what she did during the day. With Bella, Rosalie was almost an entirely different person, and Emmett was amazed by the effect the girl had on her. Calling her "whipped" was his only way of expressing that amazement.

And when she'd overheard him telling Bella earlier that evening that he was lucky that she'd shown up, because she'd brought back the sister he'd grown up with and he was grateful; when she'd overheard that, Rosalie had felt the strangest combination of emotions, all of them unidentifiable except for love (for them both) and slight guilt that she clearly hadn't been the sister to Emmett that he'd needed.

She hadn't known any other way to live, though. And selfishly, she didn't care that she hadn't been warm and fuzzy enough for her brother to perseverate on what she'd overheard or try to repent in some way.

But she _was_ glad that he possessed both the maturity and clear fondness for Bella to be able to speak to her in that manner…

"_So just tell her then." _Emmett spoke plainly as he continued._ "You want to marry this girl, don't you? Rosalie, she needs to know…"_

Rosalie took another long drag on the cigarette and stared up at the stars, all of them rendered muted and dull by the lights of the city. _"I don't suppose I should even bother asking where on Earth you'd get the idea that I wanted to marry Bella from, or should I dare?" _Her gaze remained skyward, but she relaxed back onto the angled teak slats.

"_No, don't bother, you'd be insulting my intelligence and your own if you needed me to explain how obvious it is to me that you are completely in love with the girl inside fixing us drinks. Suffice to say, if you want her to mean anything in your life, then you need to tell her who you are. Don't be afraid, Rosalie, if anything, it's such a sad story that it will probably get you laid immediately." _

Rosalie looked over at her handsome brother and smiled half-heartedly.

"_If you love her, then she needs to know. It's as simple as that. And you need to stop being afraid of scaring her off. You won't. That's all in your head." _Emmett combined his heavy words with another playful kick and a long eye roll. He understood how to keep Rosalie from slipping over the edge, and a sympathetic look and reassuring hug were NOT the way to end the delivery of such a pointed assessment of the difficult, complicated blonde.

"_God, living with you was the worst decision ever, I sooooo miss the days when you didn't have me all figured out. Since when did you get all perceptive and shit, you sound like a woman…" _Rosalie grabbed a handful of gravel and tossed it at him. Emmett didn't even flinch, and he continued to smile smugly at her. Rosalie shook her head and chuckled a bit as she fingered the tiny holes of the basket weave of her black cashmere scarf and looked over into the windows of her apartment.

The crack of a turning knob indicated that Bella was headed back, and Rosalie pulled the red tartan flannel blanket aside so that smaller girl could resume her spot sitting between Rosalie's legs.

"_You better invite her to the loft tomorrow and talk to her, it's Saturday so you'll have all day to explain your hot mess of a life to her…" _Emmett taunted in a loud whisper as Bella walked carefully over to them, balancing three glasses awkwardly.

"_Shut up!" _Rosalie leaned over and hissed at the boy, turning to glare at him.

'_If you love her, tell-" _Emmett was making no attempt to muffle his voice, and Bella's head had already snapped up when she'd first heard Rosalie's hiss.

"_Emmett, SHUT UP," _the blonde cut him off, but it was too late.

"_Tell me what?" _Bella asked with feigned innocence, smirking herself as she handed Emmett his drink and sat down on the edge of the chaise.

"_What makes you assume we're talking about you, hmm?" _Rosalie smiled broadly at her gorgeous brunette and sat up to accept her bourbon and tug flirtatiously at the lapel on Bella's pea coat.

"_Hmm, I don't know, good instincts I guess," _Bella nodded her head decisively as a very seductive, coy smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

She looked bewitching, as usual, her lips and cheeks rosy from their earlier encounter and her rich chocolate eyes bright and glimmering in the crisp night air. _"So if you love me, you'll tell me what, Rose?" _Her hair swirled in the light breeze as she turned quickly in Emmett's direction and winked at him. Emmett laughed and smiled knowingly in return as he nudged Rosalie's leg _again_ with his monster-sized red Converse.

"_God you two are annoying," _Rosalie griped as she fell back into the chaise. Bella handed Emmett her drink to hold and crawled over to Rosalie, confidence oozing off of her irresistibly as she placed a hand on either side of Rosalie's head and leaned in close, rolling her lower body into the slender model and smirking. Rosalie met her dark eyes, only inches away, and matched her smirk, shaking her head. _"God how I preferred the days when Emmett wasn't supposed to know about us, but don't think just because now you can try to use sexual coercion with me, that it will actually work." _Rosalie pursed her lips and squinted playfully at Bella. _"I'm impossible to crack…"_

Bella huffed theatrically and collapsed on top of her, groaning and sighing with perfect dramatic flair as she rolled over and resumed her previous position in Rosalie's lap. Rosalie chuckled at her performance and brought an arm around her waist as she leaned in to kiss the Bella's cheek. She knew she really was a different person around Bella – sometimes even Rosalie herself could scarcely recognize the affectionate, playful blonde that cuddled and flirted with the smaller girl.

Bella turned when she felt Rosalie's lips graze her skin, and she brought a hand up to cup the cheek of the beautiful blonde as she kissed her back gently. Rosalie pulled away after a few seconds before her brother could groan in protest, and Bella relaxed even further into her.

"_I wish you'd tell me what you were talking about," _Bella said softly.

Rosalie knew she needed to; she knew everything Emmett had said was right. She just didn't want to.

And she was procrastinating.

###

"_We were talking about Rosalie bringing you down to the loft she owns in Alphabet City tomorrow and telling you about the random shit she does during the days and her childhood and all of that stuff that I think you need to know, and Bella she really does want you to know, but she's afraid because she's not used to letting people in and yada yada yada - all of that typical psycho-babble garbage, you know?" _

Rosalie stiffened at Emmett's words.

Bile churned in her stomach as she was instantly awash with panic. She looked over at him in utter astonishment, hardly believing that he would betray her like this, as he continued:

"_And listen Bella, she has very, very, very good reasons to be closed off about some of the more important things, but she needs to break her habit of concealing her day to day life from people, especially you, since there is really nothing necessary to conceal. It's just something she's done forever, she's very private."_

"_I'm right here," _Rosalie snapped.

"_Shut up Rosalie, let me finish." _ Emmett refused to meet her eyes as he countered, and Rosalie sensed his trepidation, but clearly he wasn't afraid enough to actually stop talking.

"_Rosalie actually has a lot of things, take playing the guitar like fucking Eddie Van Halen, for example, that she should be proud of and you should really know about, because they are a huge part of who she is, and Rosalie is a really interesting, exceptionally talented person. And she does good things during the day, and you should know about them too…"_

Rosalie squirmed to get up, but Bella's body held her down.

Bella grabbed Rosalie's hand, stroking it soothingly.

Rosalie could almost feel the girl mentally willing her to calm down, and she tried to relax for Bella's sake. She didn't want to rip her brother's throat out in front of her, but she was on the verge of doing it anyways. She could feel heat burning her face, and she seethed with anger.

"_I can't even look at her right now Bella, because I know I'll lose my nerve when I see her and I need to get this out and run inside before she throws you off of her and lunges for me, but Bella I know you know this already, but we're really, really rich, and Rosalie's also very private about that, which is probably partially why she's so secretive with you, because Bella, Rosalie had A LOT of money and her loft is enormous and probably nothing like you'd expect from her, so just be forewarned, and if she takes you down to the garage, don't touch my McLaren unless you've washed your hands, actually, just don't touch the car period. Okay I'm out of here, have fun and-"_

"_Emmett sit the fuck down, don't you dare think you can walk away from me," _Rosalie growled menacingly at the boy. _"And fucking look me in the eye you coward, how could you embarrass me like-"_

"_Rosalie, shhh, be nice, he was trying to help," _Bella turned her face and kissed Rosalie's jaw as she murmured soothingly.

"_Bella he totally betrayed-"_

"_I said be nice, Rose," _Bella commanded in a much stronger voice.

Rosalie didn't know why, but she was suddenly overcome with feelings of resignation and defeat.

"_You're right," _she groaned. _ "Sit down, Judas, that was fucked up but I know you were trying to help in your own shitty way," _Rosalie sighed in surrender as she relaxed into the seat and turned to kiss Bella as the smaller girl's hand still caressed hers reassuringly.

There was no use fighting, and she felt oddly comforted by Bella's soothing words and gestures, not to mention entirely unaffected by the fact that she'd just been told what to do _and_ had listened. But whenever Bella's body was snuggled up into her own, she had a difficult time caring much at all about anything besides her beautiful, headstrong, clever, funny, kind, affectionate, incredibly lovely girlfriend.

The girl who _loved_ her. And told her as much on a regular basis.

_I can't believe she loves me, _Rosalie mused as her mind wandered to thoughts of how she would manage to introduce Bella to the complexities and oddities that comprised her real, true life. _Maybe if I just unload it all at once I'll be able to handle it. But would that -_

"_Holy shit," _Emmett's astonished words snapped her out of her internal digression. She looked over to see the handsome boy standing at the foot of the chaise, staring at Rosalie and Bella as his mouth gaped, a mixture of amazement and absolute shock painting his noble features.

"_What?" _Both girls responded to his words at the same time, neither having any idea what he was so astounded by.

"_You just told her to be nice and she listened and backed down and she isn't mad and oh my God Bella you really ARE the fucking Rosalie-whisperer, I was only half serious before but holy shit I mean you just-"_

"_Oh shut up," _Rosalie snapped, but this time her tone was light and teasing. _"Yes Em I'm a little whipped–" _Bella giggled at her confession "-_but quit telling her, you're going to give her an even bigger head..." _ Rosalie squeezed Bella tightly as she finished speaking, eliciting a tiny yelp out of her and even more giggles. Emmett began to chuckle as well. Rosalie sighed and dropped her head back dramatically.

"_God you two are SO annoying…"_

###

TBC


End file.
